
Class J-JBJIM. 



Book. 






GopyrigM]*]?. 



CQEmiGHT DEPOSen 



Guide 

to 

The Foundation T)esk 

AN INSPIRATIONAL DEVICE 
FOR CHILDREN 



ELLSWORTH D. FOSTER, 

Editor 

BERTHA M. WHITE, 

Associate Editor 



THE FOUNDATION DESK, Inc. 

CHICAGO, ILL. 






DEC -9 1921 



Copyright, 1921, Foundation Desk Company, Inc. 



©CIA630658 



"Preface 



FOR PARENTS 



THE FOUNDATION DESK, its accompanying Guide and 
the Work and Play Book are presented as a very impor- 
tant home device to add new meaning to the education of children, 
to bring out those qualities of mind which may Indicate the direc- 
tion of special talent, and to afford entertainment of unquestioned 
character. 

It is an educational maxim that we learn to do by doing. The 
Foundation Desk sets children to work at delightful tasks and 
directs them so tactfully that what might otherwise be considered 
as work becomes in a large sense play. The exercises have been 
selected with great care; our aim has been to get an instant 
response from the child heart and mind to those things which 
help to mold character, promote health, broaden perceptions and 
inculcate thrift. 

Besides all this, the Foundation Desk will prove a boon to 
parents who are often unable to find the right material to Interest 
children and keep them busy and contented in the hours when 
school and study tasks are over. At such times natural inclinations 
of childhood frequently lead In directions which gravely concern 
parents ; this Desk and Its equipment we believe will to a great 
degree solve the problem of idle hours. 

The order of presentation of articles in the Guide follows 
almost exactly the order In which corresponding titles appear upon 
the large chart panels. The Guide Is to be used In connection with 
those panels, for in this book the panel suggestions are the basis 
of all the descriptive material. 

The Work and Play Book Is aptly described in Its name. In 
it is the concrete application of the idea that play may be directed 
Into profitable channels and that children will respond with en- 
thusiasm to the idea of awards for tasks well performed. 

That the Foundation Desk shall be the "office" of the 

child, his workshop, the connecting link between home and his 

school, is the hope of ^ ^ 

The Editors 



Table of Contents 



Drawing 7 

Picture-Making with Scissors 20 

Letters and Their Sounds 40 

Penmanship 46 

Letter Writing 54 

Common Business Forms 59 

Number Work 69 

Arithmetic 75 

Measurements 85 

Lettering 90 

Boy Scouts 94 

Camp Fire Girls 102 

Kites . . .110 

Plan of My House 120 

Health Habits 128 

Thrift 152 

Good Manners 164 

Costume Design 174 

Sewing ' 178 

The Cat Family 189 

The Dog Family 200 

My Country 212 

Flags 218 

Insects 230 

Flowers 239 

Birds 252 



Drawing 



Almost anyone who can learn to write can learn 
to draw. If we understand something about how 
pictures are made, they mean more to us. The form, 
size, position, detail, grace and strength all talk to us. 
When we learn to pick out the artist's method of 
bringing out points, we feel acquainted. 

Tools. Paper. A grained or rough-finished 
paper such as manila is best for pencil work; smooth, 
fairly hard paper is required for ink. 

Pencils. Use a soft pencil. The point should be 
long, but chisel-shaped rather than pointed. The 
chisel-point can be turned to make either a sharp or 
a broad line. 

Eraser. A soft rubber eraser, art gum and dry 
bread crumbs are all good. To erase, rub lightly 
downward. Never rub back and forth across the 
paper. 

Drawing Board. A surface that stands at a 
slight angle is better than either a vertical or hori- 
zontal one. 

Scrap Book. When you see a good illustration, 
clip it and put it away for future use. For this pur- 
pose, loose leaves which can be tied together are bet- 
ter than a bound book. 

Drawing Book. Samples of your work can be 
bound together in the same way as the scrap book. 
Design a cover for each book. 

Lines May Show Stillness, or Rest, or Ac- 
tion. In the center of the panel on the first drawing 
chart are ovals and straight lines put together to look 
like men. How are the joints represented? Spaces 
may mean as much as lines. Are all the lines straight? 
Do they all run in the same direction? 



8 



Guide to the Fou7idation Desk 



A vertical line is one which is parallel to the side 
of the page. A horizontal line is parallel to the top 
and bottom of the page. An oblique line is a slanting 
line. 

Find all the vertical lines in the pictures of the 
men. Find all the oblique lines. How many hori- 
zontal lines are there? 

What is the first man doing? What is the second 
man doing? Which direction are the lines which 
show that he is moving his leg and arms? 

In these drawings vertical lines show something 
not moving; horizontal lines show sleep or quietness; 
oblique indicate movement. What tells you that the 
the second man in the lower row is running, not 
walking? 




Exercises. Draw a chicken, a duck, a cat, a dog, 
and a pig without any legs. Put legs on them to 
make them run, walk, stand still, sleep. Shall you 
want to change the heads, tails, ears, and wings, to 
show any of these actions? 



Drawing 9 

Draw a round loaf of bread. Put a small loaf of 
bread on top of it. Add ears and a long tail. 




Draw an tgg^ small end up. A butterfly with 
long wings lighted on it. Add a short tail. 
Draw an ellipse. Make it into a pig. 

OBJECTS MADE FROM SPHERES AND 
CYLINDERS 

The curved lines on the object in the upper left- 
hand corner of the panel tell us that it is a sphere and 
not a circle. 

Make the sphere into a pumpkin. What lines 
does the artist use to show the dent at the stem end? 
Can you copy those lines so that they say the same 
thing in your drawing? Which of the two pumpkins 
is the farther away? 

Make the sphere into a teapot. What do the 
shaded lines at the left of the lower part of the tea- 
pot show? And the shaded curved lines on the side? 

Is it easier to draw the teapot and the pumpkin 
when you know what each line is for, and what kind 
of lines are used to get certain effects? 

Draw circles and make them into faces. Make 
some of the faces longer than they are wide. Egg- 



10 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



shaped drawings are called ovals. Make some of 
them wider than they are long. You remember that 
is the shape of the earth's orbit — an ellipse. 




Draw spheres and make them into apples; into 
vases; into pitchers. 

The next form is a cylinder. The pail, drum and 
tower are all made from this form. Name all the 
things you think of which are cylindrical in shape. 

What shows that the surface of the cylinder is 
curved? Is the top of the cylinder a circle? Is it 
an ellipse? Is the line at the bottom of the cylinder 
exactly the same curve as the one at the top? Can 
you make yours exactly alike? 

What direction of line is used to make the head 
of the drum look flat? 

Lines Show Direction of Surface. Horizon- 
tal lines indicate horizontal surfaces. Vertical lines 
show vertical surfaces. Curved lines, like those on 
the teapot, show curved surfaces. Oblique lines show 
slanting surfaces. 

Horizontal lines are also used to show horizontal 



Drawing 11 

motion, as of waves in water. Vertical lines may show 
falling water. Curved lines give an effect of grace. 

Notice that you can see the top of the drum and 
pail; in the picture of the tower we are looking from 
below up toward the top, so that we can see only the 
front curve. Because we are looking from below in- 
stead of from above, the line curves up, not down, as 
do the front edge of the cylinder, drum and pail. 

What else is shown besides the tower? Irregular, 
vertical lines are used to represent the grass. Is the 
hill close, or far away? What did the artist do to 
make it look far away? 

Draw cylinders and make them into plain and 
fluted pillars. Make cylindrical pitchers, vases and 
baskets. 

SQUARES, CUBES, RECTANGLES AND 
TRIANGLES 

At the right of the panel is a cube. How many 
sides of the cube can you see? How many sides has 
a cube? 

Draw a square. Can you see the edge of the top 
and right side of another square back of the front 
face of the cube? Draw these lines. With dotted 
lines fill out the squares which represent the sides of 
the cube which you cannot see. 

What direction lines connect the corners of the 
front square to those of the back square? Are these 
connecting lines as far apart at the back as they are 
at the front? 

Oblique lines which are closer together at the 
back than they are at the front show distance. Lines 
which seem to lead away from us are called receding 
lines. Lay a long pencil along each of the two re- 
ceding lines, and notice that the pencils will come to- 
gether. 



12 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Draw the rectangle for the front of the basket. 
Draw in the lines to complete the picture. Lay your 
pencil along the lines in order to see just what di- 
rection they take. Add horizontal lines to indicate 
the surface on which the basket rests. 

Is the side of the cabin a square or a rectangle? 
A rectangle with a triangle added? Can you learn 
the name for a figure of that shape? Notice that you 
cannot see the top of the roof, but can see the under 
side of it, where it projects over the front of the 
cabin. Are you looking at it from above or from 
below? Study the drawing; sketch it in lightly. 
When you have it correct, put the lines in with 
heavier strokes. Are there curtains? 

Exercise. Use the square and rectangle as bases 
for vases, pitchers, baskets. 

CONES AND PYRAMIDS 

What direction do the lines take which make the 
base of the pyramid? Draw the pyramid with one 
side directly facing you. 

What kind of line forms the base of the cone? 




The cone lying on its side makes the basis for 
the trumpet. Are some of the lines in the hat heavier 
than others? Do they emphasize anything? 

Study the picture of the tent, then copy and tell 



Drawing 



13 



a story about it. Is it an Indian wigwam? Do white 
men make sucli tents? 

Make all your drawings large. 

Exercise. Make pitchers, vases and baskets, 
using the pyramid for the idea of form. 

STUDIES TO COPY 

Draw the front of a box. Put wheels and a 
handle to it, making it into a wagon. Put two pump- 
kins in the wagon, showing only the tops of them. 
Do you think there are more pumpkins inside the 
wagon? Tell a story about going to the field to get 
the pumpkins. 

Draw a cabin on the edge of a pond. Show a log 
on the bank of the pond. Draw a boy sitting on the 




log fishing. Draw a horizontal line to represent the 
surface of the water. Draw some fish under the 
surface of the water coming to get the bait. Put a 
title under the picture. 

Draw the side of a box. In it draw some short 
oblique lines. Draw a duck in the frame. What 
do the oblique lines represent? 

More Lines. Lines may mean many things. 



14 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Sometimes they show trees in the distance, some- 
times clouds, rocks, sides of buildings, etc. 

Because lines are used for so many things, we 
want to be able to make them skillfully. 

Draw these studies from the first large panel on 
Drawing over and over until you can make them 
readily. Let the pencil bear evenly on the paper 
the entire length of the line — not heavy in the be- 
ginning and light at the end. 

Learn also to make graded lines, heavy at the 
beginning and lighter at the close; and lines which 
begin light and grow heavier. These are called 
graduated lines. Objects in the foreground are 
drawn with heavier lines than those which are in the 
distance. 

Sometimes instead of making a heavy line we 
emphasize a line by drawing one or more parallel 
lines close to it. Emphasized lines also indicate sur- 
faces. 

Broken lines indicate broken surfaces, ploughed 
ground, tree trunks, rough wall, wicker work, etc. 

Both broken and emphasized lines may be 
graded. 




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Drawing 15 

Sketches to Copy. Practice exercises on all 
kinds of lines— parallel, graduated, back and forth 
(cross-hatching), broken, to give effect of solid back- 
ground, wave lines. The artist has here suggested 
simple figures which use each of these lines. 

PLACING OBJECTS 

Horizon Line — Center of Vision 

Draw a horizontal line. Near the middle of the 
line, draw a ball resting on the line. Make this ball 
into an apple. Draw two balls to the left of the 
apple and on the same line. Draw one ball to the 
left and farther away than the apple. Draw a ball 
to the right and nearer to us. Should all of these 
objects be made the same size? 

Make all the balls which are on the same line 
into apples. Write a description of the picture, tell- 
ing where each ball and apple is in relation to the 
center apple. 

When we are on a large body of water or on level 
ground with no trees or buildings or trees to inter- 
fere, we can look away off to where the sky and earth 
seem to meet. The line where they seem to meet is 
called the horizon line. In a drawing, objects which 
rest on the horizon line are the same distance away. 

Objects the tops of which touch the horizon line 
are the same size. It makes no difference how large 
or how small we draw them. The lower edge will 
indicate whether they are near or far away. The 
closer they are the lower down they will be in the 
picture, and the larger they will look. 

The point on the horizon which is indirectly in 
front of the eye is called the center of vision. We 
see the left side of objects at the right of the center of 
vision, and the right side of objects to the left of the 
center of vision. We see the lower side of objects 



16 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 




above the horizon, and the upper side of objects 

below it. 

Exercises. Draw one 
black marble and five 
white ones and tell the 
position of each one. 
Copy drawings of land- 
scape v^ith trees, and 
farmyard with house, 
barn, poultry house, 
three trees. 

FRUITS AND FLOWERS— SIMPLE SCENES 
Placing and Surfaces 

In the picture at the lower center of the second 
panel, which is nearer to us, the house or the trees? 
How do you know this? Describe the picture as to 
the location of each object — nearer to or farther 
away to the right or left of the house. Placing ob- 
jects to make a pleasing arrangement is important. 

With lightly-drawn lines connect each of the two 
trees with the moon in the upper picture. What 
form have you? What shape is the moon? The 
treetops? 

Are the two potatoes the same size? 

In drawing the narcissus, be careful that the 
markings on the petals indicate the way the petals 
curve. Which flowers are farthest away? 

What form is the morning-glory? Of what use 
are the lines on the neck and mouth of the blossom? 

Notice the oblique lines on the sails of the boat, 
the vertical lines on the stump and on the leaves of 
the narcissus, and the curved lines on the bough that 
holds the pear. Pick out the lines on the peach, its 
branches and leaves, and on the cherry. 



Drawing 



17 



Exercises. Draw a picture showing a cow facing 
to the left. There is a barn at the right of the cow, a 
tree trunk at the left. The top of the tree does not 




show. One tree nearer to us than is the cow, two 
trees farther away, a path leading to the barn. No 
detail, just effect. 

In one picture draw the surface of a pond with a 
duck on it. Show the ripples. 




Draw the side of a wall with a dipper hanging 
against it. 

In the picture at the right of the third panel, 
what lines give the effect of quiet? How is the water 



18 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

indicated? Do the cow's eyes have a sleepy look? 

In the center picture, which objects show action? 
Draw this picture, and put in strokes to indicate 
ground around the boy and the geese. Show grass 
at the left front. 

The Farm Scene. What is the hen eating? 
Draw the picture, and show kernels of corn. The 
little chicken is running for a bug. Is it in the air 
or on the ground? Show the bug. 

Why is the rooster shown so much larger than the 
house? 

Exercise. Write a story about each of the pic- 
tures on the chart. 

"I think when little chicken drinks 
It takes the water in its bill, 
Then holds its head away back so. 
And lets the water run down hill." 

Show a chicken taking the water in its bill, and 
another holding its head high. 

PERSPECTIVE (FOURTH PANEL) 

Study of a Box. A shoe-box will serve as a 
model. Set the box in front of you and study it from 
the standpoint of putting what you see on paper. 

How many sides has it? In drawing, sides are 
called faces. How many vertical edges? How many 
horizontal edges? How many receding edges? How 
many edges in all? 

Draw the box as you see it, directly in front of 
you and on a level with the eye. Draw it below the 
eye; above; to the right; to the left; to the left and 
above; to the left below, and so on, until you have 
drawn all of the nine views. 

Receding Cylinder. Notice how the receding 
lines of the cylindrical log seem to draw nearer to- 
gether as they approach the horizon. In drawing a 



Drawing 



19 




side-back view of a wagon, the receding lines from 
the wheels on the side toward you show just how 
large the wheels on the opposite side should be, at 
any point they may be placed. 

Exercises. Draw three boxes on a line below the 
horizon, with one box on top of the left one. Draw 
a bird on the upper left box, and an apple on the 
right box. 

Draw a simple design for a calendar page for 
each month in the year. Example: January — New 
Year, Eskimos, skating scene or snow scene. 




Draw the front of the house you live in. 

Draw baskets, lunch boxes, bird houses, trunks, 
wagons, and other articles in each of the nine posi- 
tions. 



Picture 'Making JVith Scissors 



Suggestion to Parents. Blunt-pointed scissors, 
waste paper, and permission to cut will keep children 
quiet, out of mischief and contented for long periods 
of time. 

The first thought of the busy mother is the neces- 
sarily disordered and littered room. Generally, 
clearing away the litter is much less trouble than 
settling the disputes and repairing the accidents 
which are sure to result from irritation, restlessness 
and downright mischievousness which arise from 
having nothing to do. The children should be 
taught while engaged in paper cutting not to scatter 
paper scraps all over the floor and to put things in 
order when they are through. Paper-cutting with 
a purpose is educational as well as amusing. Free- 
hand cutting gives dexterity to the hands; study of 
the object or picture pattern trains in observation, 
sense of proportion and outline. Initiative, inven- 
tive faculty and imagination are developed in plan- 
ning new pictures to cut and in building stories 
around the characters and scenes. The pictures 
suggest dressing-up frolics, another amusement which 
will keep the children occupied indefinitely. Play- 
acting develops the imitative faculty, memory, ease 
and self-control, and provides amusement for the 
players and an audience. 

If the home does not provide a sufficient number 
of pairs of scissors they can be purchased at the hard- 
ware or variety store for a very nominal sum. There 
should be a pair for each child. 

Any paper will do in the early stages of the work. 
Part of the sport consists in watching the paper which 
is brought into the house day by day and in salvaging 



20 



Picture -Making With Scissors 21 

that which can be used. Later, if desired, special 
papers may be purchased from kindergarten supply 
houses, the paper stores or the fancy goods counters. 
Art papers, rough or glazed, in plain colors, checked 
like gingham, figured like calico or lawn, heavy or 
light, thick or thin, smooth or rough, gold or silver, 
crepey or lacey or brocaded, like a grandmother's 
dress— all kinds may be bought. 

Teach the children to spread newspapers to catch 
the clippings, and let them cut. 

THE CUT-OUTS 

Now for the cut-outs! First, we need blunt- 
pointed scissors and paper or pasteboard to cut. 
Later on we may use our crayon, paints, ruler and 
paste. 

We will spread new^spapers to catch the clippings. 
Be careful to see that the edges are well overlapped, 
for paper sticks to the rugs or carpets and is hard 
to gather up. By using newspapers, when we are 
through we can take hold of one side of the paper 
mat, roll it very carefully and turn in the ends so 
no pieces can fall out, and burn the litter. 

What kinds of paper can we find that we can use? 
There are the heavy papers from the butcher shop, 
grocery and hardware store, light wrapping-paper 
from the stationery and dress-goods stores, plain- 
colored, striped, and checked papers which wc some- 
times get at the drug stores, odds and ends of v/all- 
paper, the backs of old envelopes, lace or satin papers 
from candy-boxes, gold and silver papers— it seems 
as though there is no end to the good paper we can 
have for the finding. 

Let's pretend we are prospectors looking for gold ; 
or Indians gathering birch-bark to use in sign-writ- 
ing. Who will find the first good piece? Who will 
find the best and prettiest? If we do not have just 



22 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

the color we want, we can color it with our paints or 
crayon. 

We will practice with a piece of wrapping paper. 
If it is very wrinkled, we shall need to press it 
smooth with a warm iron. Be careful not to have 
the iron hot, as paper scorches easily. 

Pasting the Cut-Outs. Our cut-outs might 




Cinderella by the Fire 

get torn, if we do not handle them carefully. We 
could paste them on a piece of paper and make a 
real picture. What color shall we use — white or 
the dark-brown wrapping paper? We shall need a 
rule to mark off true straight lines to make a perfect 
square or oblong. How is a square different from 
an oblong? 

When we paste we must be very careful not to 



Pictu7'e-M aking With Scissors 23 

soil the paper and to lay every part of the cut-out 
just where it should be. Wet paper stretches and 
loses its shape and tears very easily, so we must han- 
dle it as little as possible. 

Do not put the paste all over the cut-out. Put 




Cinderella and the Prince 

just a tiny bit at the upper and lower edges and a 
few spots along the sides, then put some on each little 
point which sticks out, so it will lie smoothly in place. 
Do not put any over the middle of the cut-out. Lay 
the cut-out on the paper mat, spread a clean piece 
of old cloth over it, and smooth out from the center 
toward the edges. 

Do you know how to make paste with flour and 



24 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

water? Mother will' show you. Three drops of 
clove-oil dropped into the paste when it is done will 
keep it from souring. 

The Carrot. Shall we start with the carrot? 
The jagged part at the top is where the leaf stems 
were cut off. The wavy-looking sides are caused 
by the little creases we often find in a carrot. What 
color paper would look most like a carrot? Could 
we cut the stems of green paper and paste them on? 

Bunch of Cherries. It isn't easy to get the 
circles exactly round, and we must be careful not 
to snip of¥ the stems. Shall we make the cherries 
red and the stems green? Then it will look like a 
real bunch of cherries. Is all the stem green? Did 
you ever notice the dark-brown collar around the top 
of the stem? That is the cover that kept the little 
bud from getting frozen last winter. 

The Elephant. It isn't so hard to cut vege- 
tables and fruits, but do you suppose the elephant 
will stand still long enough to have his picture cut? 

Let us look him over before we begin. Have 
you ever seen an elephant? Most important, of 
course, is his long trunk. In the picture it is curved 
a bit. The lower lip of his wide mouth shows be- 
hind the trunk at the top. I think the little bulge 
at the neck is the point of an ear. The top of the 
head is rounded, the line hollows down for the neck, 
then up for the back, then slopes away down to the 
tail. There are four legs, with big flat feet. Is the 
lower end of the trunk straight across in the picture? 
Can you see the tusks? Where are they? Can you 
find the place where the eye belongs? 

Let us see about how high and how long to make 
him. We can make some big mamma and papa ele- 
phants and some little baby calf elephants. Ele- 
phants live in herds — the mammas and the babies 
and the big boss elephant who leads them and tells 
them when to look out for danger. 



Picture- Making With Scissors 25 

When you have finished cutting, notice whether 
you have his front legs too close to the trunk. Does 
he slope down enough toward the tail? Can you 
trim up the corners and make him look better? 
What color of paper would make him look like a 
real elephant? 

Paste him very carefully on the background 
paper. He should be in the middle from side to 
side, but we may place him nearer the lower edge 
than he is to the upper edge. Be sure that his legs 
and his tail and his trunk paste down smooth and 
straight. 

Or, we might paste him to one side of the picture 
and cut a palm tree to put at the other side. Or, we 
could paste a group of elephants all in one picture. 
Then we could make some grass for them to stand on. 

Elephants are so big that they appear slow and 
clumsy. Sometimes they stand in one place a long 
time, blinking their eyes and swinging their tails 
from side to side. It really wasn't so hard to make 
this one's picture, was it? * 

The Ball Player. Notice his loose, baggy 
clothes and flat-soled shoes. He is wearing a small, 
round hat. We can make nine ballplayers all with 
suits the same color, and then we shall have the home 
club. Then we could make some with suits of an- 
other color; they would be the visiting club come 
to play our team. 

Spirit of '76. Did you ever see a large picture 
of this group of three people, shown in the center of 
the large panel? What is it called? What does it 
mean? It represents a boy, his father, and his grand- 
father, more than a hundred years ago, in the war 
that made our country free. Which is the father? 
Can you see the pocket-flaps to his coat? And the 
ruffles on his shirt? What is he doing? What is 
the boy doing? Do you know which is the grand- 
father? Why can't we see the noses? Do you think 



26 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

they are walking fast? How can you tell? What 
kind of trousers are they wearing? Notice that the 
back foot of the boy is so close beside the front foot 
of his grandfather that we cannot cut between them. 
Is it farther from side to side of the picture, than it 
is from the soles of their feet to the top of the tallest 
soldier's head? Measure and be sure. 

Be careful in cutting the drumstick and the flute 
and the fingers. When you have finished cutting 
the outline, then cut out the open spaces between the 
figures. Work very carefully. 

We could color their suits to look like the uni- 
forms the soldiers of '76 wore. What color would 
that be? Did the colonist soldiers always have nice 
new uniforms? 

The Christmas Tree. What could we do with 
Christmas trees? Could we not use them on the 
cover of a book of Christmas songs and stories? How 
many candles can you count on this tree? Might 
there be others you cannot see? What are the round 
whi1:e spots? Why do not the flames of the other 
candles show? Can you cut very carefully so as to 
leave the little pine needles showing? Can't you im- 
agine that you can hear the sleighbells? And the 
reindeer? 

Girl With Muff. What do you think the little 
girl's name is? Where is she going? What time of 
year is it? How can you tell? Can you see any of 
her dress? Perhaps she got that mufT on the Christ- 
mas tree. Is she walking fast or slow? How can 
you tell? Is she looking up, or down, or straight 
ahead? Don't cut ofif her nose. 

Oak Leaf. What time of year would we find 
the oak leaf? When it is on the tree does it look as 
stiff and straight as it is here? Can you tell the dif- 
ferent kinds of oak trees when you see them? Your 
father will tell you this is a burr oak leaf. 

The Iris. The iris is a very pretty flower, and 



Picture-Making With Scissors 27 

would make a pretty cut-out to paste on a birthday 
card or a book-mark. We shall need to be very care- 
ful in cutting out the spaces in between the leaves and 
flower. Would you like to cut this from white paper 
and color it? What color should the leaves be? The 
flower? Mother can tell you. 

The Rooster. Do you think this is a Leghorn 
or a Rhode Island Red? Or what breed is he? Be 
very careful not to spoil any of those beautiful tail 
feathers nor a single lobe of his proud comb. What 
color do you prefer to paint him? 

MOTHER GOOSE CUT-OUTS 

A Book For Our Cut-Outs. We shall have 
ever so many stories. If we put them all together, 



Mother Goose 



28 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

they will make a book — a Mother Goose Nursery 
book for Baby Brother. Would you like to make 
baby a book? We could mount (that means paste 
carefully) the pictures on heavy paper and bind the 
edges so that they will not tear easily. Then we 
would need a cover. 

Mother Goose Cover. The artist has one all 
ready for us to make with cut-outs. Here are the 
old lady who tells the stories, her goose, which is 
always with her, and a little girl to listen. 




Baa, Baa, Black Sheep 



We shall need three kinds of paper to make this 
one. Black is needed for Mother Goose, white for 
the goose and the little girl, and some color between 
black and white for the background. The picture 
shows a background of what is called "cross-hatch- 
ing." From a distance it gives a gray effect. We 
may use plain gray paper, or we may make the upper 
part blue, for the sky, and the lower part green, for 
grass. You might try using just a small bit of sky 
and more grass, or using a great deal of sky and only 
a little grass. Which way makes it look as though 
you could see a long distance? What do we call 
the line where the sky and earth seem to meet? 



Picture-Making With Scissors 



29 



Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. Do you know a story 
about a boy and a black sheep? Can you tell it? 
The sheep has come close to hear what "master" is 
saying. 

Would you like to cut out the sheep and the boy 
and paste them? What is the line at the bottom for? 
Which part do you need to be most careful about? 
Can you write the verse very nicely to put on the 
page with the picture? 

Mary Had a Little Lamb. 
Who are these two? Where 
are they going? What is 
Mary carrying? See her sash 
bow. Is the lamb holding 
back as though it knew it 
ought not to go to school? 
How do we make it look that 
way? 




Mary Had a Little Lamb 



Do you think Mary knows the lamb is just be- 
hind her? If you know the whole Mother Goose 
story of Mary and her lamb you will surely enjoy 
cutting them out in paper. If you use paper of two 
colors, what color would you make the lamb? What 
color of dress would you like to see on Mary? 



30 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Goosey, Goosey, Gander. 
beautiful fat geese! They will 
make a good page. What color 
of paper should you use for the 
geese? Suppose you use one color 
for the litle girl's dress and black 




Little Boy Blue 



Picture- Making With Scissors 



31 



Little Boy Blue. Isn't this a cute Little Boy 
Blue with his hair all rumpled after his nap? Can 
you recite the poem about him blowing his horn. 
Suppose you use black or brown paper for the dog, 
green for the ground and some other nice color you 
like for the boy's suit. Then paste the picture on a 
good background. 

Little Jack Horner. Tell 
what you see in this picture. 
Look closely. Do you see any- 
thing else — bows, collars, but- 
tons? On what sort of stool is 
Jack sitting? I think he is a bit 
surprised, for he 
never knew he was 
going to find a 
plum in his pie. 




Little Jack Horner 



Old Mother Hubbard. You know the story 
of this picture. What kind of hat is Mother Hub- 
bard wearing? What kind of shoes? Is she fat or 
slim? What kind of dog has she? Does he look 
as though he were waiting for something? Can you 
make your cut-out dog look like the one in the pic- 



32 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



ture? Can you spell cup- 
board? How is the cup- 
board held in place on 
the wall? After cutting 
the picture, paste it on a 
sheet of paper. Write 
the verse on the page, just 
below your cut-out. 




Old Mother Hubbard 



Jack Be Nimble. 



Did you ever see a candle- 
holder like this one? "It is 
the kind great-grandfather 
and grandmother used to 
use. Mother can probably 
tell you about it, and the 
color to make the candle- 




Jack Be Nimble 



Picture-Making With Scissors 



33 



holder and the candle. 
You know the color of 
the flame. Shall we 
write the verse to the 
picture and put it on 
the card? Would the 




space above the 
candle and to 
the right of 
Jack's face be a 
good place to 
put our verse? 
Ride a 
Cock - Horse. 
How old do 
you think this 
boy is? Do 
you think he 
has named his 
horse? Would 



you enjoy having a horse like his? Can you get some 
red paper for the cut-out of 
the horse? What color 
would you use for the cut- 
out of the little boy? 




Jack and Jill 



34 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Jack and Jill. Look at everything in the pic- 
ture before you begin work. Which parts do you 
need to be careful about, and what colors are you 
going to use? Write the verse about Jack and Jill. 
Little Bo-peep. Does the little girl look wor- 
ried because she has lost her sheep? Do you know 
about the shepherd's crook? What is the crook for? 
Do you see where the bars are down? There is a 

story about Lit- 
tle Bo-peep. In 
England, they 
do not have 
large farms such 
as we have here. 
The sheep pas- 
ture along the 




Little Bo-Peep 



road or in a field with other people's sheep, so they 
have to be watched closely. Shall we believe Little 
Bo-peep to be an English girl, and that she is looking 
anxiously up and down the road to find some trace 
of her sheep? Cut out the girl first, in dark paper, 
then the gate in paper of another color, and paste 
them together. 



Picture-Making With Scissors 35 

Simple Simon and the Pie-man. Do you know 
the verse? It reads like this: 

Simple Simon met a pieman, 

Going to the fair. 
Said Simple Simon to the pieman, 
"Let us taste your ware." 

Said the pieman to Simple Simon, 
"First, let us see your penny." 

Said Simple Simon to the pieman, 
"Please, sir, I haven't any." 




Simple Simon Met a Pieman 



36 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Cut these figures from different colors of paper; 
very dark paper for the pieman, light paper for 
Simon, and black for the ground. Then paste them 
on a good background. 

Hey, Diddle, Diddle. This is a jolly group. 
Does the cow look as though she were jumping as 
high as she can? Of course you will make the moon 




The Cow Jumped Over the Moon 



of yellow paper, the spoon and dish of something 
nearly white, the dog may be black, the fiddle red 
and the cat gray or brown. Paste them all on a 
good background. 

Cinderella. Here is a cut-out which will give 
you some hard work to make right. But you can 
do it. What kind of paper shall you use for the 
star? You will want red for the fireplace. Do 
you know what the funny two-legged thing is? Ask 
father to tell you about that when you climb up on 
his lap to-night. Wouldn't you be surprised if a 



Picture-Making With Scissors 37 

fairy appeared before you and did all the things the 
fairy did for Cinderella? If father does not re- 
member all that story, mother will tell it to you. 
When you have all these cut-outs pasted on a back- 
ground, suppose you hang it on the wall near your 
bed. It will look pretty. 

The second picture shows Cinderella trying on 
the slipper. What is the prince carrying in his 
hand? This will look well on the wall by the side 
of the fireplace picture. 

Book Cover. This is a good-looking book cover. 
It will not be hard to make. Would it make a nice 
cover for our pressed leaves and flowers? Or for 
our drawings of flowers? If we make it in colors, 
it will do for a cover for our painted pictures of 
flowers. 

What kind of flowers are those that make the band 
across the lower part of the cover? What colors 
shall we use to make them? How many kinds of 
paper shall we need to make all the parts of the 
cover? Do not forget the binding. What do we 
call the paper that is all over cross-lines? 

Notice that the artist man has shown us how to 
cut the letters. 

Other Things to Do with Scissors and Paper. 
Could you make furniture for your doll's house? 
You could cut figures out of paper tinted the right 
color for hands and faces, then cut dresses of other 
colors and paste them on the figures. You could 
have several dresses for each figure. 

You could even make several faces for each fig- 
ure. One figure could have a happy face, then you 
could put another face on it that would show sorrow. 
You could make up stories and show the pictures 
of the boys and girls — the way they looked when it 
rained and they could not go to the picnic ; and when 
mother made a surprise for them; and when big 
brother came home from college. You could almost 



38 Guide to the Foundation Desk 




rOCiERS-BOi 



Picture-Making With Scissors 39 

make the faces tell what big sister brought each one 
when she came back from her vacation. 

If you write your story, I think mother would like 
to read it. Some day you could dress up like the 
pictures and act the story. The neighbor children 
could come over to help and it would be a regular 
party. You could play Mother Goose or Cinderella, 
and sing the nursery rhymes and have curds and whey 
and Little Jack Horner pies to eat. 



Letters and Their Sounds 



There are twenty-six letters in the English alpha- 
bet. Some languages do not have so many letters ; 
the Chinese have a great many more. 

We have more sounds than we have letters, so 
some letters have to represent more than one sound. 
There are marks to show which sounds they stand 
for, but in writing and printing most of our books 
we do not use the extra marks, but simply write the 
letter. We think people will know the right sound, 
because they have heard the word spoken. 

If we do not know which sound a letter repre- 
sents in a word, we may possibly not pronounce the 
word correctly. The dictionary shows the sound 
of the letters in every word. A good dictionary 
should be in every home. 

When we are learning new words, we should be 
careful to learn to pronounce them correctly, and 
to learn exactly what they mean. In that way we 
shall become familiar with all the words we are 
likely to want to use throughout life, all that the 
people with whom we talk will use, and most of 
those that are in the books that we read. 

Kinds of Letters. There are two kinds of let- 
ters, called vowels and consonants. The vowels are 
a, e, i, and u. Sometimes w and y have vowel 
sounds. All the other letters, and iv and y as they 
are often used, are consonants. 

Vowels are the letters whose sounds arc made by 
simply opening the mouth and expelling the breath; 
that is, they are made without any obstruction in the 
vocal organs. In making consonant sounds, we use 
the teeth, tongue, lips, and palate to stop the sound 
and change it. Notice, in saying h, how we shut 



Letters and Their Sounds 41 

our lips together and hold the sound back until it 
seems almost to explode when it does come. To make 
the different vowel sounds, we simply hold the mouth 
in different positions. Say a, e, i, o, and u, and notice 
how you change the position of the mouth to make 
them sound differently. 

A 

The letter a has seven principal sounds. Used 
as in baby is called long a, and to show how it is to 
be pronounced, we mark this a with a long line above 
it like this, a. This is the a we have in cake, day, 
late and same. Can you think of other words which 
have this sound of a? 

Make a list of a number of words like bake, cake, 
etc. Make another list of some which are like 
name; like Kate; like Jane; like bay. Make other 
lists of long a words. 

The a in apple is called short a, and is marked 
with a short curve above it, like this: a. It is the a 
we have in at, bat, and the like. Make a list of some 
of those words. Write them in a column and be 
very careful to keep the right hand side of the col- 
umn straight and even. Try to spell them all cor- 
rectly and not to make erasures and soil the paper. 

Make a list of the words like Jack; like am; like 
bank; like fan. Perhaps you will think of other 
lists you wish to make — all words with the short a. 

Another sound which a has is called the Italian 
a. It is like the a in arm.. This a is marked by two 
dots above it, or a. Think of all the a words you 
can. Write them in columns like this: 

arm ark bar 

farm bark car 

harm dark far 

A shorter form of this sound, which we have in 
ask, pass, and dance, might be called the short Italian 
a. It is marked with one dot above, like this, a. 



42 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Sometimes it is hard to say this a and not say 
either a or a. Learn which words have this sound 
of a and train yourself to speak them correctly. So 
many people mispronounce this a that you will need 
to look in your word book to know which words have 
this sound and not a nor a. 

Broad a is the sound we find in all, and is marked 
with two dots below, a. This is the a we have in 
chalk and awful. Make lists of a number of these 
words. 

Here is a short broad a, marked as you see with 
one dot below, a. It is the sound in what, was and 
swallow. It, too, is a bit difficult to speak exactly 
right. It is like short o, the o in not and dog. We 
do not have a great many words like this. We 
should make a list of the common ones and practice 
until we always pronounce them correctly. 

A marked with a caret, as a, is found only before 
r. It sounds like the e in ere. Sometimes it is mis- 
pronounced to sound like the a in at. Not all a's 
which are before r have this sound. The a in carry 
is short a, and the a in Mary is long a. But the a in 
care and the a in parent are the caret a. We might 
remember that a before r in one-syllable words, and 
a before r in accented words of more than one sylla- 
ble are quite likely to have the caret a sound. Make 
a list of words having the sound of the caret a; con- 
sult the dictionary to see that no errors are made. 

It would be a good plan to make your lists on 
sheets of paper of the same size, and when you are 
through with all the letters, to bind the pages to- 
gether to make a book. Then you can keep it to 
refer to when 3^ou forget just which sound of ^ a word 
has. You could add new words as you learn them. 
It would be your own dictionary with the words 
you want to know in it where you could find them 
easily. 



Letters and Their Sounds 43 



The letter e, too, has various sounds. Long e, 
as in key, bee, clean, beat is marked with the long 
mark above, e, which is used to mark all long vowel 
sounds. Short e in nest, pet, ten, and end, is marked 
as all short vowel sounds are, with the short curve 
above, e. 

The e with a caret above sounds like a with a 
caret, and is found only before r, as in there, where. 
Do not pronounce this e like the a in at. 

The e with a wave line above, 7, is also found 
before r in words like fern, her, and the second e in 
ever. What sound has the first e in ever} 

Sometimes e has the sound of long a, as in eight, 
and prey. This e is marked with a long line below 
it, e. 

Would you like to make lists of the words with 
each of the e sounds? 

I 

The / in ice is the long i, and is marked with the 
long line above, 7. 

The i in fish is short, and is marked with the short 
curved line, T. The / in bird and fir is like the e in 
her, and is marked in the same way, with a waved 
line above, 7. 

There is an i which sounds like long e. It is 
marked with two dots above, t. This is the i in 
machine. 

Make lists of words for each of the sounds of /. 



The letter o in pony is long o, and is marked like 
the other long vowel sounds, o. Other long o words 
are old, bone, note. You can think of others; make 
a list of at least ten. 

Short in dog and not is like short broad a in 



44 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

was; the o in the word dog is not the same as the a in 
all. Be careful of these words. Make a list of them 
as you find them, so you will not be pronouncing 
them incorrectly. 

Caret o, marked 6, is found in or and is used only 
before r. It is like the a in all. 

The o in do is marked with two dots below, o; 
o in wolf with one dot below, as o ; the o in son with 
one dot above, 6. Do you know other o's with these 
sounds? 

U 

Long u is the sound in cube, use and tune, and is 
marked u. The u in tune should not be sounded like 
the in do, but like the u itself. This is the u in 
duty (not dooty) and in ;z/rj (not joory). 

Short u, in /w^, and rw^, is like the o in son and 
Jon^^ and is marked u. Caret u, u, is found only 
before r as in fur. The sound is not like the caret e, 
but like the wave-marked e in her and the / in sir. 
Try to say this u correctly. 

U with two dots below, u, in sure and rude, is like 
with two dots below. U with one dot below, u, in 
push, sugar, is like o with one dot below. 

Make lists of other words with these sounds. 

LETTERS THAT COME IN PAIRS 

Consonant letters which sound in pairs are called 
digraphs, a word which means two writings. The 
hard sounding ch, as in chick and child; the soft ch 
as in machine; and the ch as in echo and chorus are 
the ch digraphs. Then there are sh, as in hush and 
she; th hard, as in this, and /^ soft, as in thin; wh 
in it'A^n and who; ph, like /, in Philip; ; gh like g 
in ghost, and like / in laugh; and w<7, as in /ow^. 

There are vowel digraphs, too. Ai, in sail, sounds 
like long a, the / not sounding. Ee, in seed, sounds 



Letters and Their Sounds 45 

like one long e. Oo in moon, marked oo, sounds 
like with two dots below; this is called the long oo. 
In look, the oo is short, and is marked like a short 
letter with the short curve, oo. Short oo sounds like 
with one dot below. 

The digraph ea, in stream, is pronounced like 
long e with the a silent, or not sounding. The di- 
graph oa, in loaf, is long o with the a silent. 

Sometimes two vowels sound together to make a 
new sound which neither of them makes alone. The 
ow, in cow, and ou, in mouse, sound different than 
any sound made by o or le^ or u. Two vowels which 
sound together to make a new sound are called a 
dipthong, a word which means two sounds. 

Sometimes ow is only a digraph, as in snow. Ou 
has another sound, like u with two dots below, as in 
soup. Oi, in oil, and oy, in boy, are true diphthongs. 



Penmanship 



Its Importance. Boys and girls should learn 
to do well those things that they will have to do 
every day as long as they live. It will make their 
work easier, they will accomplish more, and will take 
a very great pride in realizing that they have mas- 
tered some really important details in life. 

Aside from play and all kinds of recreation, what 
is the thing that people do most frequently? You 
will probably answer that they read. You are right. 
Everybody reads a great deal — books, papers, letters, 
signs, as they pass along the street or road; people 
do not often realize how much their eyes are used in 
reading. What is next in importance? We think 
that with most people writing comes next. Some 
folks earn their living by writing; they are book- 
keepers or clerks, with pencils or pens in their hands 
all of every working day. Every person is obliged 
to write a little, and most everybody does a great deal 
of writing. It becomes important, then, to practice 
this art until it is not necessary to apologize for pen- 
manship so poor that one can scarcely read it. 

Easy to Learn. If you say you cannot learn to 
write well you are surely trying to make yourself 
believe something which is really not true. We do 
not mean to say that all persons can become expert 
penmen, but it is true that every person of average 
ability may learn to write well. 

To become a good penman requires that you need 
to know how to make fifty-two letters well — twenty- 
six capital letters and twenty-six small letters. Only 
fifty-two in all, and many of these are very much 
alike in form. 

Position. Only one thing need be mastered be- 

46 



Penmanship 



47 



fore you begin to practice on the form of the letters. 
You must learn how to hold the pen and forearm 
and how to move the muscles of the arm in guiding 
the pen. It may be well to tell you at this point 




48 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



that you will never write well or easily if you per- 
sist in writing "with the fingers" — that is, if you rest 
the wrist and hand on the paper and move the fingers 
to form the letters. 

The muscular movement provides that only the 
ends of the last two fingers and the muscle near the 
elbow touch paper or desk. The thumb and first 




two fingers hold the pen in place, as illustrated on 
the large panel, with a grip only firm enough to 
keep the penholder from slipping. The correct po- 
sition once assumed, thumb and fingers remain un- 
moved in their relative positions. The elbow muscle 
becomes the pivot on which all movement depends; 
it moves the pen upward and downward, and can 
swing it in a long arc from left to right. 



Penmanship 



49 



Exercises. Make the foregoing groups of lines 
without moving the fingers and without lifting the 
pen while completing each group. 

Continue to practice on these exercises until the 
desire to move the fingers disappears. Then with 
upward and downward stroke to the left practice on 
these straight lines until you can make them easily, 
using only the elbow muscle for movement. 

Other exercises which are very effective in de- 
veloping proper movement are also given. 






50 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Grouping for Practice. Many of the letters, 
both capitals and small letters, are similar in form, 
and may well be combined for practice work. When 
one has learned to make the capital O well he has 
acquired the movement and largely the form of D, 
A and C ; also the E combines almost the same prin- 
ciples. Therefore, we join in our first group O, A, 
C and E: 




You should practice with patience on the first 
character, the direct oval, before attempting to form 
the letters which follow it. 

A second group includes P, B and R. Mastery 
of the first makes easy the other two. Before at- 
tempting the letters, practice long upon the indirect 
oval and the downward and upward straight lines — 
a push and pull exercise: 




Another group includes N, M, H and K. Pre- 
ceding the forms of these letters are movement exer- 
cises: 




A still larger group comprises U, V, W, X, Y 
and Z. Practice the movement exercises first: 



Penmanship 



51 







The three following groups complete the alpha- 
bet of capital letters. These are based on the figure 
8 exercise and variations of it: 




In conclusion, we place in two groups all the 
capitals and small letters, to serve as convenient 
copies for much careful practice work. 

Be pleased to remember that in order to become 



52 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



a good penman — one who does not have to apologize 
for the appearance of his handwriting— all that is 
needed is the will to persevere. 




/ ^j> //^ c 




c 



Penmanship 



53 





'L^Ly^ u u ly uU 



Letter Hunting 

A letter may be called a talk written down care- 
fully on paper. There are certain forms which all 
who wish to do things correctly must observe in a 
letter, but, even so, our definition is a good one; a 
letter is nothing more than a conversation spelled 
out and put on paper. 

Boys and girls are not the only ones who find it 
difficult to write good letters ; many fathers and moth- 
ers will admit the task to be a hard one. Do you 
know why? It is because the writers do not express 
their thoughts naturally when they pick up a pen. 
They feel that something more is required than sim- 
ple statements and plain language. From habit 
they may be careless in ordinary conversation; in a 
moment it is a thing of the past and likely forgotten, 
but when a thing is written it lives longer and critical 
eyes may see it. Therefore they feel that the lan- 
guage must be studied; there must be a search for 
the right words and for elegant expression. We 
will all admit that the correct word and dignified 
language are very desirable and add to the pleasure 
of reading; but remember that if you do not think 
such phrases and talk in the same vein you are sure 
to get into trouble when you try to write. Your let- 
ter will not sound like you; it may appear ridiculous 
in places, and sometimes in choosing unusual words 
you may set down a meaning you little intended. So, 
in letter writing, be yourself ; be natural. 

We said there were certain forms or parts in every 
good letter. These are the following: 

1. The heading 4. The body 

2. The introduction 5. Complimentary close 

3. The salutation 



54 



Letter Writing 55 

In the large chart panel headed "Letter Writing" 
will be found these five necessary divisions of a cor- 
rectly written letter. The first, second, third and 
fifth can be mastered by anyone in a very brief time, 
these need to be varied to meet many conditions, but 
the idea is unchanged. "Dear Willie" may be 
changed in your letter to "Dear Cousin Emma"; it 
may indicate some other relationship, or may be 
simply, "My Dear Friend." Like variation is nec- 
essary in the complimentary close. All the hard 
work is centered in the body of the letter. It con- 
tains the message. 

Business letters ought to be brief. There are two 
good rules to follow in such a communication: 

1. Write j^our message in as few words as possible. 

2. Stop. 

The reason for brevity is clear. The letter you 
write may be one of 500 or of 50,000 that one com- 
pany receives daily, and with every employe who 
handles your letter time is valuable. 

Which is the better of the two letters that follow, 
omitting all except the body, or message? 

1. 

Please send me one copy of Kingsley's "Water Babies." I 
enclose a money order for forty cents in payment. 

2. 

My teacher has asked me to read Kingsley's "Water Babies." 
There is not a copy of the book in our school library nor in the 
town, I believe, so will you please send me a copy? I enclose a 
money order for forty cents to pay for it. 

The publishers would prefer to receive the first 
letter rather than the second. Can you tell why? 

It will be excellent practice in composition for 
you to write a few business letters. The following 
subjects are suggested: 

1. Write to the Atlas Publishing Company, Chi- 



56 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

cago, telling them that sixteen pages are omitted from 
a book you bought from them. Indicate the page 
numbers. Ask them what they are willing to do to 
correct the error. 

2. You need two new baseballs and a catcher's 
mask, or, if you prefer, two tennis rackets. Write 
A. G. Spalding & Bro., New York, asking for prices. 

3. Apply to Adams Printing Company, of your 
city, for a position as messenger boy during the sum- 
mer vacation. State your price. Tell why you 
believe 3^ou can give good service. 

4. Write a letter to your father giving at least 
three reasons why your weekly m.oney allowance 
from him should be increased ; or, if you are not in 
receipt of a regular allowance, ask for one, and give 
three reasons why your request should be granted. 

5. Write to the Security State Bank, Gopher 
Prairie, Minnesota, asking for printed matter on the 
subject of saving money, and inquire as to the amount 
it requires to start a savings account. 

If you are not pleased with your first efforts, 
study the faults in your composition and rewrite them 
— several times, if necessary. 

Many business letters must be comparatively 
long, but it is possible in every instance to write 
clearly what you have to say, and then resist the 
impulse to ramble along needlessly. 

In letters of friendship it is not possible, neither 
is it desirable, to establish set rules. The degree of 
intimacy between the parties will establish one stan- 
dard. A desire to joke or to be light and frivolous 
will make another style of composition necessary, but 
it might be well to urge that a letter which is intended 
to be all nonsense would better not be written, for it 
will serve no useful purpose. In personal letters 
there is the greatest opportunity for natural expres- 
sion. Indeed, it is frequently true that a person's 
character can be understood from reading a series 



Letter Writing 57 

of his friendly letters. When you express your 
thoughts in writing in the same natural way that you 
do when speaking you hold a mirror of yourself up 
to your friends, and in such true portrayal of yourself 
they are sure to derive much added pleasure. 

You should practice letter writing, in order to be 
able all through life to write good letters; there is 
really no accomplishment which is more important 
or one which the average person has to use more 
often. May we suggest that you compose complete 
letters, as nearly perfect as possible, on the following 
themes. After you have finished each, study it care- 
fully, note the places where it can be improved, then 
rewrite until you are well satisfied with it. 

1. Write to a real or imaginary uncle out in the 
country, telling him of your experience in raising 
chickens in your village home or ask him to tell you 
how to plant and take care of a garden spot planted 
to beans and peas. Make it two hundred words in 
length. 

2. Write to a chum who is visiting away from 
town telling him (or her) of the chief occurrences 
in town during the past week. 

3. Invite a friend to visit you and tell him (or 
her) of the things you propose to do to make the 
visit pleasant. 

4. Write to your absent father or mother and 
give a full account of your conduct during his or her 
absence. 

5. Write to a real or imaginary sister away at 
school, telling her the news about her friends at 
home. 

Formal Notes. On the large panel you will find 
a formal invitation to a tea party, a form of acceptance 
and one expressing regret. It is quite proper to 
frame all such notes in strictly formal manner, al- 
though more intimate and personal forms may be 
used. In a formal manner write: 



58 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

1. An invitation to a little friend to attend a May 
Day party at your home. 

2. Accept an invitation to a party in honor of 
Miss Margaret Thompson's tenth birthday. 

3. Express in a nice way your regret that you 
cannot attend a party at the home of Jerry Brown in 
honor of his visiting cousin, Miss Dorothy Low. 
Give your reason. 



Common 'Business Forms 



It is not absolutely necessary that business papers 
should be written according to any particular forms. 
They will be legal if the meaning is made clear, no 
matter what the form may be. However, in the 
many 3^ears in which modern business has been de- 
veloping certain standards are accepted as best for 
all kinds of commercial paper, and one is expected 
not only to know these forms but to use them on all 
occasions. Not to be able to write correctly, accord- 
ing to custom, a check, note, draft, invoice or the like 
is to confess ignorance which in this age is hardly ex- 
cusable. 

In addition to knowing the arrangement and 
wording of a commercial paper one should know why 
certain phrases are always employed and what dam- 
age their omission may cause. To be legal in every 
sense, and thus make argument or dispute impossi- 
ble, commercial papers of most kinds must contain 
certain statements of fact. These will be discussed 
in these pages. 

Note. A note is a written promise by one person 
to pay a certain sum of money to another person at 
a certain time. It may specify where it is to be 
paid, and in what kind of money — gold, for in- 
stance — it must be paid. In notes there are always 
two parties to the transaction. The drawer is the 
debtor, the person who writes and signs the note, the 
one who when it becomes due must pay it. The 
payee is the creditor, the person named to receive the 
money when due. 

Every note should contain the words, "For value 
received" or "Value received," for the law requires 
that to be valid a note must give evidence that what 



60 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

is called consideration, or good value, shall have been 
exchanged. There must be some reason why Mr. 
Jarvis agrees to pay Mr. Graff. If the note merely 
says "I promise to pay Mr. Graff Three Hundred 
Dollars," nobody would know whether it was given 
under undue pressure or for a gambling debt, or 
whether it was for the performance of some illegal 
act. If given as a result of any of these it is not for 
a lawful purpose, for nothing of lawful value has 
passed between the parties, and it may be declared 
worthless. Without the words "Valued received," 
even if given for an honorable debt, the holder of the 
note might have to prove its legal nature in court; 
but if those, words are included and appear over his 
signature the fact is acknowledged to everybody that 
the note was given for a lawful purpose. 

There is another reason why a note must bear this 
indication of fair exchange of value. A note which 
is properly made out may be used as money, to a 
limited extent. Mr. A, for example, holds Mr. B's 
note for $100, and A owes Mr. C. If Mr. C is as- 
sured that B's note is good he may accept it from 
A in payment of A's debt to him. In such case Mr. 
A will endorse it on the back, authorizing B to pay 
the sum to C. Or, A may take the note to his bank 
and borrow money on it with which to pay C. All 
such transactions are based on good faith, the finan- 
cial standing of the parties and the correct appear- 
ance of the note. We shall explain endorsements 
more at length later in this article. 

In addition to the above requirements, every note 
must be dated; it must clearly specify the time of 
payment; if it is to bear interest the fact must be 
stated; sometimes interest is to run from the day the 
note is made, sometimes from the date it becomes 
due until the day of payment, if payment is delayed. 
Seldom is there a requirement as to the kind of 
money in which payment shall be made, but occa- 



Common Business Forms 61 

sionally a creditor will demand gold; this is really 
an unreasonable request. If no interest is to be paid 
the note should show this. 

Checks. A check is a written order on a bank 
requesting it to pay to a third party a specified sum 
of money. The drawer is the person whose name is 
signed to it; he must have on deposit in the bank 
sufficient funds to cover the amount of the check. 
The payee is the person to whom the money is or- 
dered paid. The drawee, the party on whom the 
check is drawn, is the bank. 

Checks offer a really remarkable proof of the 
confidence people place in one another in business 
matters, for their use is so universal that, excepting 
for daily small purchases in stores, nine-tenths of the 
business of the country is done with checks instead of 
actual money. A man holding a check, properly 
written, for $10 or any other sum, has a right to be- 
lieve it is as good as cash to a like amount. 

Most checks are nicely engraved, with blank 
spaces for the date, the amount in figures and also in 
words, the number of the check, and the names of 
the drawer and payee. The drawee's name (the 
bank) is a part of the engraved portion. However, 
a check entirely in writing is valid; the bank looks 
only to see that the signature of the maker is genuine. 
In the woods of California, far from a town, a man 
once bought a vast amount of lumber and in order 
to close the transaction at once he wrote a check for 
$1,200,000 on a shingle. The payee took the shingle 
to San Francisco and cashed it. 

When a person opens a checking account at a 
bank he places his signature on a card, which is filed, 
and he is requested always to sign his name in the 
same manner on all checks he issues. The bank may 
properly refuse to pay out money on a check if the 
signature cannot be identified as the same as that on 
the card. 



62 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

How TO Cash a Check at a Bank. Do not at- 
tempt to do this unless you are acquainted with some 
person in the bank or have an account of your own 
there; in the latter event your bank book will iden- 
tify you. If either of the above identifications are 
impossible you must take with you to the paying 
teller's window some person known to him. This 
friend assures the teller you are the person you de- 
clare yourself to be, and he becomes your guarantor. 
When you endorse the check on the back by writing 
your name, which acknowledges receipt of the money 
called for, your guarantor must also endorse it. In 
case the check proves worthless the bank holds your 
guarantor for the amount, and he in turn will look 
to you for satisfaction. 

'Endorsements on a Check. When you cash 
a check made payable to you you write your name 
on the back, and it must be written exactly in the 
form in which it appears on the face of the check. 
If it is payable to "Chester A. Smith," you must not 
endorse it "C. A. Smith," even "Chester Smith." If 
payable to "Mrs. Margaret Brown," Mrs. Brown 
may not endorse it as "Mrs. Wm. E. Brown." A 
married woman should use her own given name 
rather than that of her husband in all such transac- 
tions, for identification is simplified. There might 
be several "Mrs. Charles Smiths" in town, but there 
would likely be but one "Mrs. Josephine Smith." 

Every person through whose hands a check passes 
before it is cashed becomes responsible for its face 
if it is proved to be of no value. The bank which 
cashed the check before it was discovered to be 
worthless would look to the last endorser for pay- 
ment; he in turn may demand redress from any other 
endorser, and so on until the original signer is 
reached. Very seldom is a check found to be fraudu- 
lently issued, but when attempt at fraud can be 
proved, the laws impose penalties. 



Common Business Forms 



63 



In the illustrations are two forms of endorsement. 
The first is the safer form to use when the check 
passes into the hands of another person. The words 
"Pay to the order of Timothy Grant" make it im- 




possible that anybody except Timothy Grant or some 
person he names can cash the check. When Grant 
signs his name he acknowledges receipt of the sum 
for which the paper is drawn. 

The first endorsement is known as endorsement 
in full; the second, as endorsement in blank. If 
Beed loses the check after he has endorsed it in 
blank it then can be cashed at the bank by anyone 
who finds it, if that person is properly identified and 
he in turn puts his name on it. The lesson Mr. Beed 
might learn from his carelessless is this: Never en- 
dorse a check until ready to part with it. The finder 
of a lost check might have to refund the money he 
received on it if the rightful owner succeeds in lo- 
cating him and can prove his claim. 

Drafts. Roscoe Carter of Chicago owes $50 to 
George W. Stearns of New York. He has no check- 
ing account at a bank, so he cannot send a check. 




64 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

He may go to a bank with the required sum and ask 
the bank to send it to Stearns. He will receive to 
mail to Stearns what is known as a bank draft. It 
will appear as in the illustration below: 

Tte Peo^es'Erustand Savlnos BmK jj©. 1 2876 

:.i : — s» lAMti^m ^^^ ^ 

R«f TOTBBORPei! or — <^ l - » . ^ ^^.^ "^/^r -<: £C zS e -«i-<t^-»-»— ^ 

z^"^/ f^ I I- ' ■ Dollars 

To Chemical Union Bank 
New York 

Carter mails the draft to Stearns, who cashes it or 
deposits it in a bank to his credit, and the debt is 
paid. 

How does the bank carry through this transac- 
tion? Every large bank in each city has a working 
relation with some bank in all cities of importance. 
Each maintains a credit with the others. In this in- 
stance, when Carter buys his draft, for which serv- 
ice the bank charges him a few cents, the local bank 
credits the New York bank with $50 ; when the New 
York bank pays the draft it debits the Chicago bank 
a like amount. Two persons have thus settled their 
accounts and two banks have performed a service, 
but not a cent in money has passed between the two 
cities nearly a thousand miles apart. 

Another common form of draft is here explained. 
The Johnson Chemical Company of Detroit wishes 
to collect a debt of $20 from John B. Stiles of Cleve- 
land. A draft will be prepared in the office of the 
former, in one of two forms. The form usually pre- 
vailing is the first shown on page 65. 

The draft thus prepared will be mailed to the 
Cleveland bank, whose employes will present it to 
Stiles for payment. Out of the $20 the bank will 



Common Business Forrns 



65 



Johnson Chemical Company 
Detroit, Michigan 

Detroit, 

Pay to the order of j^U^i^^s^^^La^ 



•No.JA£j_ 



and charge to the accouj^t of 

Johnson Chemical Company 
By_ 






TREASURER 



retain 10 cents or 15 cents as collection fees and will 
remit the proceeds to Detroit. The other form, quite 
frequently employed, is shown below: 



No. 1493 



Johnson Chemical Company 
Detroit, Michigan 

Detroit, ^^^ ^-^ 1924: 



Rvy TO the ORDER or=^ 



Sf-^ . M-t-r^y' 



DOLLARS 



AND CHARGE TO THE ACCOUNT OF 

Johnson Chenhcal Comb\ny 
By. 



rf^-^-- 1,-^~ -I - -t\ I 



^ 



TRBASUIUER. 



The Cleveland bank is 
not authorized to demand 
payment on this draft in its 
present form; the Johnson 
Company, when the draft 
is written, must endorse it 
on the back, as follows: 



■^3^ ^ ■^■^.^ 4 ■*■ ■ * -^^-' 



Johnson Chemical Company 



By- 



66 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

From the above discussion of drafts it is clear 
that, as in checks, there are always three parties in- 
volved. As in checks, the person or firm with which 
the draft originates is the maker, or more properly, 
the drawer; the person on whom demand for pay- 
ment is made is the drawee; the bank which col- 
lects the money for the drawer is the payee, although 
when the bank makes remittance of the proceeds the 
original drawer is discovered to be the payee. The 
bank stands as the drawer's agent in making the col- 
lection. In the bank draft first discussed the bank 
of issue is the drawer, acting for the debtor; the 
person to whom the money is to be paid is the payee ; 
the bank on which the draft is drawn in the distant 
city is the drawee. 

Invoices and Statements. In modern business, 
if a person purchases a bill of goods for which he is 
to pay at a future date the seller provides him with 
an itemized list of such purchases. It specifies the 
number of each kind of merchandise bought, the 
cost of each individual piece or lot, and the total 
cost of each kind. Such a complete list is called an 
invoice, or in commoner term, a "bill of goods." 

Printed forms have come into universal use, thus 
shortening clerical labor in the preparation of in- 
voices. The form given on the large panel is simi- 
lar to all; slight changes are sometimes employed 
to meet varying tastes. 

STATEA4ENTS. A Statement is a summary of pur- 
chases made by one person during one month, or 
possibly a longer period. Because an invoice lists 
every item and the total of all items, it is unnecessary 
to repeat this information in a statement. Therefore 
the latter merely presents the totals of each day's 
purchases. The form shown on the large chart panel 
is in very general use. 

Receipts. A receipt is a written acknowledg- 
ment that certain valuable things, such as money or 



Common Business Forms 67 

goods, have passed from the possession of one person 
to the hands of another. One who wishes to pay 
money to another may properly refuse to do so if he 
is refused a receipt showing the transfer. If a pay- 
ment closes an account it is proper to have the receipt 
acknowledge the fact by the words, "Received of . . . 
, in full of account." 

Exercises. In the absence of printed forms our 
boy and girl friends will be obliged to write all the 
papers called for below, unless through the kindness 
of father or his friends regular printed forms can 
be obtained. 

Forms FOR Practice. 1. John Jones buys a cow 
for $50 from William Smith and gives a note due 
in four months, without interest. Write the note 
and ask father to criticise its form. 

2. Joseph Wilson gives Henry Blake a thirty- 
day note for $75 in payment of a debt. It is to draw 
6% interest per annum, and is to be paid at the Peo- 
ple's Bank. Write the note. 

3. Arthur Brown owes Charles Curtis $325. 
Curtis demands a sixty-day note, with interest at 7% 
if not paid when due. Write the note. 

4. Moses Thompson agrees to accept a 60-day 
note for money due him from Thomas Scott. There 
is to be no interest charge. 

5. Write a note between the same parties; time, 
four months; amount, $24.75; interest, 6% from 
date. 

6. Write a check on the Culver National Bank 
for $80, payable to Henry Rice. Sign it. 

7. John Peters owes Job Francis $100. Claude 
Wells owes John Peters a like amount. Write a 
draft which will provide for settlement of all claims. 

8. Suppose you buy from Jenson & Company 
on June 3, one stove, $35.00; 50 feet rope, at 4 cents 
per foot; one cultivator, $27.50; and on June 17 
you buy 15 pounds of nails, at 7 cents per pound; 



68 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

one handsaw for $1.75; 10 gallons of gasoline, at 
19 cents per gallon. 

a. Make an invoice for each day's purchases. 

b. Write a monthly statement as coming from 
the merchants, dated July 1. 

c. Write such a receipt as would be given you 
when on July 10 you pay $5.00 on account. 

d. Write the receipt which ought to be given 
when on July 25 you pay the balance. 



Number TVork 



To Parents. Boys and girls should be made to 
understand at an early age that there are at least two 
branches of education which they must master if they 
wish to achieve any of the elements of success in life. 
These are reading and arithmetic. Many persons 
unable to read have become prosperous; they have 
succeeded to a degree because they were shrewd 
enough with figures to carry on ordinary transactions. 
It is hard to conceive success as coming to any man 
who does not understand the rudiments of mathe- 
matics. 

Liberal space is given on the chart panels of this 
desk to number work, arithmetic and measures. The 
elements of number work are presented pictorially, 
in accordance with approved methods of teaching, 
and thus the child is drawn naturally into his first 
exercises in numbers. Parents can assist in laying 
solid foundations in mathematics in the child's mind 
by encouragement and sympathetic assistance, as it 
may be required. 

To BE Read and Explained to the Child. In 
one corner of the chart on number work you see ten 
figures: 

012 3 456789 

With these ten figures we do all of our work in 
arithmetic; they are called Arabic figures, because 
many hundreds of years ago people of Europe found 
them in use among the Arabs in Asia and Africa and 
they took them for their own use because they were 
so much handier than their own Roman letters. The 
Roman letters are I, V, X, L, C, D and M, standing 
for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 and 1,000. These Roman 

69 



70 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

numerals are no longer in use in our everyday work, 
but we can see them carved in buildings to denote 
the year of construction, and we also see them on the 
backs of books to denote the number of the volume, 
and, we find them also in a few other places of no 
real importance. 

The Arabic figures are the basis of all arithmetic; 
they will be necessary in all the figuring you will do 
in every problem that you will meet in even the 
smallest problems of business later on. You will use 
arithmetic when you buy a slate, or a pair of shoes, or 
a railroad ticket. 

Lessons in Number Work. Let us read the 
names of the figures and study their form: 

Exercise One. 
Naught one two three four five six seven eight nine 

123 4567 89 

You see here how all the figures are written, but 
you will notice when father makes figures he makes 
the 4 and the 9 look a little different, because the 
form he uses is easier to make. He will show you 
how to make them his way. Practice making these 
figures a great many times, copying those on the chart 
and see how good you can make them look. 

Exercise Two. Addition. On the chart you 
see that one box and one box are two boxes. You 
see that one book and two books are three books. 
You see that one apple and three apples are four 
apples. You see that two apples and two apples 
are four apples. You see that two vases and three 
vases are five vases. You see that one vase and four 
vases are five vases. Here are two ways of writing 
these sums. 

1+3 = 4 2 + 3 = 5 

2+2=4 1+4=5 

2 12 3 3 4 
+3 +4 -4-1 +1 +2 +1 



1 + 1 = 


-2 




2+1 = 


-3 




1 1 


1 


2 


+ 1 +2 


+3 


+2 



Number Work 71 

Exercise Three. Dominoes. Add the white 
spots on each domino in the first row, in this way: 
"2 and 1 are 3"; to have it look like father and 
mother write it, use a little cross instead of the word 
and and two short straight lines instead of the word 
are. Your addition will then look like this : "2+1=3 ; 
2+2 = 4; 2+3 = 5, etc." 

What is the sum of all the spots on the first row of 
dominoes? 

What is the sum of the spots on the first domino 
in each of the three rows? 

What is the sum of the spots of the second domino 
in each of the three rows? 

Exercise Four. On the panel are four little 
boxes, and in each are two numbers to be added. Can 
you add them correctly? Practice until you can add 
all four quite rapidly. 

Do you see the columns of figures on the chart? 
There are four columns with thirteen figures in each 
column and there are two columns with four figures 
in each column. Can you add the two short columns 
in one-half minute? . 

Can you add each of the long columns in one-half 
minute? Practice this until you can do so. 

Exercise Five. Do you see the wheels with rows 
of figures in the circles? Look at the first one. There 
is a lot of work there for you to do. 

In the center circle you find the figure 8. The 8 
is to be added to all the figures in the next circle. 
When you have practiced this until you can add them 
rapidly, then you are to add 8 to each of the figures 
in the other circle. 

Exercise Six. Subtraction. Do you see on the 
panel four little boxes, each with two numbers just 
above the word subtraction? The first tells you to 
subtract 4 from 8. This means that if you have eight 
apples and you take 4 of them away, how many will 
you have left? Place 8 toothpicks in a row; take 



72 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

away 4 of them and give the number that you have 
left. You will see that 4 remain. 

Place 9 toothpicks in a row and take 6 away; you 
will see that 3 remain. This process is called sub- 
traction. There are five little problems in the upper 
right-hand corner of the chart. Can you write down 
the answers to the five quickly? 

Exercise Seven. Look at the second wheel ; in 
the center circle is the figure 5, with a dash before it. 
The dash is the sign for subtraction. This S is to be 
subtracted from each of the figures in the second 
circle. When you can do this quickly, then you may 
subtract 5 from each of the numbers in the third 
circle. In writing numbers for subtraction, you must 
write the larger number first, and the smaller one 
below it, for when you subtract you always take the 
smaller sum from the larger. 

Exercise Eight. Multiplication. Multiplica- 
tion is a process of finding the result of taking a num- 
ber a certain number of times. 

In the third wheel the figure 4 is shown in the 
center circle; this is to be multiplied by each of the 
figures in the other two wheels. The little cross be- 
fore the figure 4 is the sign of multiplication. 

Right above the figure 4 in the center wheel is the 
figure 3; our problem is to find the result of repeat- 
ing the 3 four times. You can put it down as fol- 
lows: 3+3+3+3=12. You see we have put 3 upon 
3 four times; we can state this more simply in this 
way: 3X4= 12. 

In- the same way multiply 4 by the numbers in 
the second circle by 4. Work on this until you can 
perform all of the eight little examples in one minute. 
When you can do this, multiply all the numbers in 
the outer circle by 4. See how long you will have 
to practice in order to do this in one minute. 

Exercise Nine. Division. Division is the proc- 
ess of finding how many times one number is con- 



Number Work 73 

tained in another. In the fourth wheel the center 
circle contains the number 3. To the right of the 3 
in the second circle is the figure 9. Our problem is 
to find how many 3's are in 9, or how many times 
we must take 3 to make the result 9. You will see 
that 9=3+3+3. In our problem of multiplication 
we found that 9=3X3; in division we write our 
problem like this 9-^3 = 3. The sign which means 
division is a straight line with dots above and be- 
low it. 

Divide all the numbers in the fourth circle by 3 ; 
practice until you can get answers to these eight 
problems in the shortest possible time. When you 
can do this well, divide the numbers in the other 
circle by 3. 

Exercise Ten. In the first circle where numbers 
are added, use the figure 7 instead of the 8 in the 
inner circle and add 8 to each of the figures in the 
other circles. 

In the second circle instead of using 5 to sub- 
tract, use 7. From all the numbers in the two outer 
circles subtract 7. 

In the third circle instead of the 4 in the smallest 
circle, use 5. Multiply the numbers in the two outer 
circles by 5. 

Exercise Eleven. Solve the following prob- 
lems; see if you can get the correct answer to each 
the first time you try: 

1. Jennie received 17 cents from her father, 11 
cents from mother, 6 cents from brother Will and 9 
cents from Aunt Harriet. She lost 4 cents, gave 7 
cents to her cousin Emily and 3 cents to her little 
sister. She thought then she would have 30 cents 
left. Had she? 

2. Helen had five turkeys. She sold them to a 
merchant at $3 each. She purchased a doll for $2, a 
pair of shoes for $4 and two yards of silk at $1 a yard. 
How much money did she have left? 



74 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

3. Margaret went on her vacation. The train 
which she rode on for three hours made an average 
speed of 28 miles an hour. She then rode in an auto- 
mobile for two hours, which traveled at the rate of 
25 miles an hour. Margaret was then at her aunt 
Bertha's home. How far had she traveled in the 
five hours. 

4. Courtland deposited in the Desk Bank the 
following amounts: 40 cents, 72 cents, 38 cents, 63 
cents and 84 cents. What was the total of these de- 
posits? 

5. A man left an estate of $70,000. He gave a 
daughter $20,000, a son $15,000 and a granddaugh- 
ter $5,000. He gave three times as much to a church 
as he gave to his granddaughter and one-half as 
much to a school as he gave to his daughter. The 
remainder of his estate he gave to a grandson. How 
much did the grandson receive? 

6. Edna had $2, Opal twice as much as Edna, 
and Louise as much as Edna and Opal together. To- 
gether they put their money into an outing fund. 
They spent $1 for a boat, $6 for food, $1 for fishing 
tackle, $2 for a camera, and $2 for a tent. How much 
money was left in the fund? 

7. How many days are there in April, May, 
June, July, and August? 

8. Courtland received 85 in Arithmetic, 79 in 
Grammar, 89 in History, 92 in Geography, 85 in 
Writing, and 86 in Spelling. What was his average 
in these studies? 

9. Mrs. James paid $2 a bushel for apples. The 
amount of her bill was $12. How many bushels did 
she buy? 

10. How many dozen oranges, and how many 
over are there in a box containing 147 oranges? 175 
oranges? 183 oranges? 195 oranges? 



Arithmetic 



To Parents. The study of arithmetic begins 
with the realization of the simplest numbers and what 
they mean, by counting and identifying units and 
groups, as from 1 to 5, to 10, and upwards. Thus 
the child is made familiar with the simplest combi- 
nations of numbers, and the foundation is laid step 
by step for subjects of addition, subtraction, multipli- 
cation and division. These four are the fundamen- 
tal principles of mathematics. On the preceding 
chart we have presented some of the simplest ele- 
ments, intended as exercises for small children, under 
the guiding hand of the parent when necessity re- 
quires. 

The exercises which follow are for minds a little 
more mature — for children whose ability to think for 
themselves is a little more highly developed. They 
are better able now to analyze situations, and natur- 
ally should require less help from their elders. Par- 
ents can be of more service to their boys and girls 
by encouraging independent thought and research 
than by rushing to their assistance at every trying 
moment and doing their w^ork for them. Do not 
throw them absolutely upon their own resources; 
watch to see that the weight of their troubles does 
not discourage them. 

EXERCISES IN ARITHMETIC 

Factors. Any two, three or more numbers which 
when multiplied together produce a certain number 
are known as the factors of that number. The chart 
panel tells you that the factors of 6 are 2 and 3. We 

75 



76 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

find this to be true by multiplying 2 by 3 ; the prod- 
uct is 6. 

The factors of 8 you may say are 2 and 4; this is 
correct, but 4 is not the lowest factor you can use, 
for 2 and 2 are factors of four. So here we learn 
what prime factors, or the lowest possible factors are. 
In resolving a number to its simplest factors we 
search until we have factors which cannot be further 
divided. Here is a good example: 

48 = 8 X 6 
48 = 4 X 2 X 6 
48 = 2X2X2X6 

48 = 2X2X2X2X3; these are the 
prime factors of 48. 

Exercise One. Find the prime factors of 32; 
52; 78; 144; 208; 512. 

Fractions. A fraction is one or more of the 
equal parts of a number or one of the equal parts 
of an object. One apple cut into two equal pieces is 
said to be cut into halves; one-half of an apple 
added to one-half of an apple equals one apple. If 
you cut an apple in this way the size of each part 
is represented as ^2 ; this is a fraction. The lower 
figure is called the denominator, a rather long word; 
it shows into how many equal parts a thing is divided ; 
the figure above the line is the numerator, which 
names the number of parts of the whole thing which 
are taken. 

The first black and white square in the upper 
right-hand corner of the chart illustrates a whole 
number, as 1, or 1 square foot, or 1 acre, or 10 acres 
or 50 acres, or any other unit of measure; the sec- 
ond and third figures represent one-half of the same 
unit and three-fourths of the same thing. In the 
third figure, the }i means that the unit is divided 
into 4 parts, and 3 of these are taken. 



Arithmetic 77 

Examples. 1. If the first figure represents 1 
acre of ground and is worth $100, what will the frac- 
tional part in the second figure be worth? in the 
third figure? 

2. If the entire first circle in the second row of 
figures represents a pond containing 3 acres, how 
many acres in the black portion? How many acres 
in the black portion of the second figure? In the 
third? 

3. The six-sided figures are called hexagons 
(hexagon means six-sided). If the first entire hexa- 
gon represents a pie worth 60 cents, what is the black 
piece worth? In the second hexagon what would 
you have to pay for the black section, at the same 
rate of cost? 

4. How much larger is the black part of the 
third hexagon than the black part of the first one? 
of the second? 

Kinds of Fractions. If a fraction is less than 
the unit one it is called a proper fraction; if its 
value is a whole number or a whole number and a 
fraction it is an improper fraction. Thus, ^, 1/3, 
3/5, 8/lS are proper fractions, for each is less than 1, 
while 5/2, 8/5, 14/6, 12/4 are improper fractions, 
for the value of each is greater than 1 ; 5/2 = 2^ ; 
8/5=13/5; 14/6 = 2 2/6 = 2 1/3; 12/4 = 3. 

Addition of Fractions. You cannot add 2 horses 
and 2 plows and get one number for a result; neither 
can you add 34 ^"d ^. You can add only like 
things, as 2 horses and 2 horses, which gives 4 horses 
as a result. 

In adding fractions we must make them alike 
with respect to their denominators. We see that ^4 
and ^2 are not alike; but we know that 3% equals 
2/4. So in adding these two we must have the com- 
mon denominator 4. Thus the problem is solved 
in this way: 

J4+J4 = 54 + 2/4-^4 



78 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

In the same manner we add: 

1/4+1/8 = 2/8+1/8 = 3/8 

1/5 + 1/3+1/6 = 6/30+10/30+5/30 = 21/30. 

Add 1/3 + 1/4+1/2 = ? 2/5+2/3+3/4 = ? 5/6+1/2 + 

3/4 = ? 

Subtraction of Fractions. We found we can- 
not add 2 plows and 2 horses, and we know as well 
that we cannot subtract 2 plows from 2 horses. 
Neither can we take j4 from J^ until we make them 
alike by giving them like denominators. We know 
that y^ = 2/4. Now our problem can be solved as 
follows: 2/4 — }i = %. Because you cannot take 
a larger number from a smaller one, the larger num- 
ber is written first, and the smaller is taken from it. 
In like manner subtract: 

3/5-1/2 = ? 5/12-1/3 = ? 15/16-3/8=? 

Your mother gives you % of a dollar. You 
spend 1/5 of it for a book. How many cents have 
you left? 

A man bought % of a pound of meat, but the 
bone in it weighed 1/6 of a pound. How much of 
his purchase was meat? 

Multiplication of Fractions. The simplest 
form is that shown in the following illustration: 
2/3 X 14 = 2/12 = 1/6. We multiply the numerators 
together for the numerator of the product^ and the 
denominators together for the denominator of the 
product. The result of the multiplication is 2/12, 
which can be reduced to lower terms by dividing by 
2, so we have 1/6 as the final result. The process 
can be shortened by cancellation, that is, by division 
before the product is reached, as follows: 2/3+1/4 = 
1/6. 

Multiply : 3/5 x >^ = ? 4/7 X 2/3 = ? 
^ X i^ X 3/5 = ? (Cancel the 5's by dividing each 
by 5.) 2/11 X>^ X 2/5=? 



Arithmetic 79 

A mixed number is one containing a whole num- 
ber and a fraction, as 3 2/3. In thci following prob- 
lem we are required to multiply 4 by 3 1/3. We 
can perform the work by two processes. In the first 
we multiply 4 by 3 and 4 by 1/3 and add the prod- 
ucts, to get our result: 4 X 3 = 12; 4 X 1/3 = 4/3 = 
11/3; 12+11/3 = 13 1/3. A better form, when 
you once understand the principle, is found in re- 
ducing the mixed number to an improper fraction 
(3 1/3 = 10/3) and proceeding in this manner: 
4/1 X 10/3 = 40/3 = 13 1/3. 

Multiply: 6X3 5/12 (can you cancel here?) 
10 X 4^. (can you cancel here?) ; 14 X 2/7 = ? 

A man sells 11^4 quarts of milk at 10 cents per 
quart. How much money does he receive? 

In multiplying a mixed number by a mixed num- 
ber, reduce both to improper fractions, then pro- 
ceed as we have shown you above. For example: 
3 1/3X4 1/2=10/3X9/2=90/6=15, or 10/3X9/2= 
30/2 = 15, by employing cancellation to shorten the 
work. 

Multiply: 6^4 X 5 2/3 = ? 7 2/3 X 6>^ = ? 
5 7/11 X 61^ = ? ' 

How far is it around a room that is 12 1/3 feet 
long and 9^ feet wide? How much longer are the 
two sides than the two ends? (Solve the problem 
by multiplication and addition.) 

Mr. Brown received 4/5 of the income from a 
farm, and spent 5/8 of what he received. If the 
whole income from the farm was $2,500, what part 
of his portion had he remaining? 

Division of Fractions. One fraction may be 
divided by another by changing them to fractions 
which have a common denominator, and then divid- 
ing the numerators. Example: 4/5 -^ 1/3 = 12/1 5 -^ 
5/15 = 12/5 = 2 2/5. 

The same result is obtained by observing this rule: 
Invert the terms of the divisor (the second of the two 



80 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

fractions, the first being the dividend) and proceed 
as in multiplication. Example: 4/5 -r- 1/3 = 4/5x3/1 
= 12/5 = 2 2/5. 

Divide: 1/2 -^ 1/4=? 1/4^1/9 = ? 4/5^2/9=? 
11/15 -^ 1/3 = ? 4 1/3^2 1/2 = ? 22/27- 11/3 = ? 
(cancel wherever possible). 

If you have a room 15 feet long and 12 feet wide 
how many strips of carpet ^ of a yard wide will be 
required to cover it? How many yards in all the 
strips? 

A man owned 6 acres of land which he divided 
into lots of }i of an acre each, and sold each lot for 
$200. How much money did he receive? If the 6 
acres cost him $400 an acre, did he gain or lose, and 
how much? 

Divide: 3 1/2-^4 1/3 = ? (3 1/2-4 1/3 = 7/24- 
13/3 = 7/2x3/13 = 21/26.) 4 5/9^3 2/5 = ? 6 7/8^ 

3 5/9 = ? 12 4/7^3 7/8 = ? 

Read these two problems: 5 1/6-J-4 2/7 = ? 
5 1/6., 

4 2/7 • • 

Are they alike? They are, as in solving the latter it 

5 1/6 ^ . /. 
takes the form of the first, as follows: ^ 2/7 ~ 

4-4 2/7=31/6^30/7 = 31/6x7/30=217/180=137/180. 
Solve the following, by reducing to simplest 

. . 15 6/7 , 8 3/7 _, 3 4/5x8 1/2 ^, 
"^" 8 2/3"" 6 15/16 • 4 1/3x5 3/8 ' 

The Circle. A circle is a plane curved figure 
every point of which is equally distant from a fixed 
point within called the center. The illustration on 
the large chart panel gives the name circumference 
to the entire distance around the curved surface. 
This is a word we get from two Latin words, which 
mean to bear and around. The straight line passing 
through the center is the diameter, a word which 



Arithmetic 81 

means to measure through. It divides the circle into 
two equal parts. One-half of the diameter is called 
the radius. 

By a problem which children cannot understand, 
but which they learn later in high school, it is proved 
that the distance around the circle, or the circum- 
ference, equals the length of the diameter multiplied 
by 3.1416, which is practically 3 1/7. 

You need not take the word of older people for 
this, however, for you may prove it for yourself. 
Measure the diameter of a wheel, then multiply the 
diameter by 3.1416. Then measure with a tape the 
circumference. You will find it to be almost ex- 
actly the same as the result of your problem. 

By higher mathematics you will learn some day 
that if you square the radius (multiply the radius in 
feet or inches by itself) and then multiply this prod- 
uct by 3.1416 you w^ll have found the area of the 
circle, in square inches, square feet, square yards, or 
other higher denomination in square measure. 

Knowing these two simple rules, you will be able 
to solve a good many interesting problems. 

1. A circle is drawn in a square each of whose 
sides is 6 inches. Answer these questions: 

(a) What is the diameter of the circle? 

(b) How long is the radius? 

(c) What is the circumference, in inches? 

(d) What is the area of the circle? 

2. Draw a picture of a stake driven into the 
ground and a rope stretching out from it for 40 feet. 
Suppose a cow v^^ere tied to this rope end. 

(a) Would the rope represent the diameter or 
the radius of the circle over which she could graze? 

(b) If the cow walks around the stake, keeping 
as far from it as the rope will permit, how many feet 
will she travel? How many yards? 

(c) Over how many square feet can she graze? 

3. There is a circular fountain with a diameter 



82 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



of 8 feet. Around it is a circular walk 4 feet wide, 
beginning 10 feet away from the edge of the fountain. 










,,,,.-.;i;;;.^;;:v;li;^ 



w;,',',', ;,';,; ,-.:,'i 


/ 


/ir 


l-l>;;'vi/ 






^Y<^.''/.'.' 


'•';■' '(h'''' ■•"■,' 


• •> 



The Fountain, Grass and Circular Walk 

(a) What is the circumference of the fountain? 

(b) What is the area of the fountain? 

(c) What is the area of the plat 10 feet wide 
which surrounds the fountain? 

(d) What is the distance around the inner side 
of the walk? 

(e) How far around the outside of the walk? 

(f ) What is the area of the walk in square feet? 

(g) What is the combined area of walk, the 
inner vacant space and fountain? 



Arithmetic 83 

(h) How much would It cost to build the walk 
at 70 cents per square foot? 

Exercise Two. Decimals. How many cents 
are there in a dollar? What part of a dollar is 1 
cent? You will write this fraction 1/100, but if you 
write as people do in terms of money the one-hun- 
dredth part of a dollar is expressed as .01. The form 
1/100 is a common fraction; the form .01 is a dec- 
imal, or decimal fraction. The forms 1/100 and .01 
represent the same value. The period (.) here rep- 
resents the units in numeration, and the 1 the one- 
hundredth; so there must be one more decimal place. 
There are no tenths in one-hundredth, so we fill out 
the tenth's place with a naught, thus, .01. 

Write the decimal which stands for 5/100, 
15/100, 35/100. 

Write the decimal which stands for 10/100. It 
is written .10, but as 10/100 equals 1/10, when 
reduced to its lowest terms, we can write the decimal 
.1 ; thus we see that naughts to the right of a decimal 
have no value. 

When we say. Write in decimal form 12 and 26 
hundredths we understand that 12 is a whole num- 
ber and 26 hundredths is a decimal; the word and 
gives us the location of the decimal point. So we 
write the problem as 12.26. 

Write in decimal form: 

18 and 42 hundredths 

41 and 6 hundredths 

8 and 6 thousandths 

142 and 47 thousandths 

Problems: 

How many minutes in .75 of an hour? 

How many pounds are there in .25 of a ton? 

Express decimally: 175 hundredths; 175 thou- 
sandths; 175 tenths. 

Square Measure and Cubic Measure. On the 
large panel are one single block, a row of ten blocks. 



84 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

3l square surface of ten rows each with ten blocks 
and a figure showing ten of these square surfaces one 
upon another. 

These are to illustrate truths in measurements in 
arithmetic. Lay 10 rows of single blocks in a line, 
shown in diagram b. Place 10 of these rows together, 
as in diagram c. How many single blocks are rep- 
resented? If you count them you will find the num- 
ber to be 100. How may we know this without 
counting? There are 10 rows in length, and there 
are 10 in width, or breadth. If we multiply the 
length (10) by the breadth (10) the product is 100. 
If there were only 6 rows in breadth the product 
would be 60. If the surface of each small block (a) 
were one square inch, how many square inches in 
the surface of c? 

In d in the top layer we have found there are 
100 of the little square surfaces. There are ten of 
these layers, each with 100 squares. How many of 
the blocks marked a are in the figure d? If you 
were to count them you would find the number to 
be 1,000. By a simple process we multiply the 
length (10) by the breadth (10) and then this prod- 
uct by the thickness (10) and find 1,000 to be the 
solid contents, or cubic measure. 



Measurements 



Boys and girls do not realize that our measures 
and weights, such as inch, foot, yard, mile, pound, 
ton, etc., have not always existed in civilized coun- 
tries. We are going to tell you something about 
their story, which really extends over many hundreds 
of years. Indeed, their history dates back nearly 
three thousand years, and even before that the people 
of more ancient times were using simple methods to 
measure and weigh things, but that was so long ago 
that no records have come down to us. 

A famous Jewish writer of history named Jose- 
phus (Jose' fus), who was born about four years 
after the death of Christ, wrote that Cain invented 
v/eights and measures. You remember that he was 
the son of Adam and Eve, who killed his brother 
Abel. Josephus may have been wrong, but surely 
the very oldest peoples had to weigh and measure 
things and they invented ways of doing this. 

However, no system was satisfactory in these 
early days, and it was less than four hundred years 
ago that peoples and governments began to develop 
the standards we have to-day. 

Long before the time of Christ the cubit was the 
unit of measurement of length in Western Asia and 
Egypt; it was declared to be the length of the aver- 
age man's forearm, from the elbow to the end of 
the middle finger — about 18 to 20 inches. There 
is constant reference to the cubit in the Bible. The 
Greeks and Romans later brought the pace and foot 
into existence, the foot being one-third of a pace. 
When the Roman Empire fell and many small coun- 
tries rose from its ruins the length of the foot varied 

85 



86 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

in each of them; it was in different places from less 
than 9 inches to over 16 inches in length. 

Such conditions then survived for hundreds of 
years. Finally, about the year 1550 the Germans 
made a new measure for a foot, as follows: 

"To find the length of a rood in the right and law- 
ful way, and according to scientific usage, you shall 
do as follows: Stand at the door of a church on a 
Sunday and bid sixteen men to stop, tall ones and 
small ones, as they happen to pass out when the serv- 
ice is finished; then make them put their left feet 
one behind the other, and the length thus obtained 
shall be a right and lawful rood to measure and sur- 
vey the land with, and the sixteenth part of it shall 
be a right and lawful foot." 

In England Henry I, who was king from 1100 to 
1135, declared the yard to be the distance from the 
end of his nose to the end of his thumb. His Parlia- 
ment (the lawmaking body) established other stand- 
ards of weights and measures according to grains of 
wheat or barley. Three barleycorns equalled 1 inch 
in length. The barleycorns used for measures were 
taken from the middle of the ear, dried and laid end 
to end. 

Other measures of about the same period were as 
follows: the fathom (now 6 feet) was the length of 
the two arms outstretched, from tip to tip of the fin- 
gers; the finger, one-eighth of a yard; the yard, the 
distance around the average human body. 

There was an early unit of weight in England 
called the stone, which was the same as 14 pounds 
by our measurements to-day. The hundred-weight 
was 112 lbs. (8 stone) ; the ton, 2,240 lbs. (160 stone) ; 
these correspond to our present long ton measures. 
The bushel was 56 lbs. (4 stone), and our present 
bushel varies from about 56 lbs. to about 60 lbs. 

About the year 1250 the gallon was declared 
equal to 8 pounds of wine, and in 1452 as eight 



Measurements 87 

pounds of wheat. An English law of 1689 made the 
gallon 231 cubic inches, and the United States yet 
uses this standard. 

People found it easier to measure time, for did 
not the regular periods of day and night and the four 
seasons offer suggestions? In old Babylon the day 
began at sunrise; the Jews began it at sunset and the 
Romans and Egyptians at midnight. We in America 
to-day begin to measure the day also from midnight; 
one o'clock in the morning is the first hour of the 
day. At noon we reach twelve o'clock, and the next 
hour we call one o'clock in the afternoon. The 
French people, however, number the hours from 
midnight to midnight straight through from one 
o'clock to twenty-four o'clock; therefore what is one 
o'clock in the afternoon with us is thirteen o'clock 
with them, and our six o'clock in the afternoon is 
their eighteen o'clock. 

The Indians of early America, if they wished to 
indicate three days to a white man would sweep an 
arm from east to west three times, to show three pas- 
sages of the sun across their heavens. If they re- 
ferred to "three moons" they meant the time covered 
by the coming of three new moons, and this was prac- 
tically three months, for we have a new moon every 
twenty-eight days. 

Troy, Apothecaries' and Avoirdupois Weights. 
The grain is the smallest measure used in weighing 
anything. There are 7,000 grains in a pound of 
sugar or any other substance you buy at the grocery. 
There are 5,760 grains in a pound of drugs or in a 
pound of any precious metal, such as gold or silver. 
The difiference noted is not in the weight of the grain 
in these instances ; the grain as a unit of weight never 
varies; in druggists' weights and in jewelers' weights 
there are only 12 ounces to the pound, while in the 
grocers' weights there are 16 ounces to the pound, 
hence the difference in the number of grains to the 



88 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

pound. The druggists' table of weights is called 
apothecaries', a word which means a compounder of 
medicines. The jeweler and goldsmith use troy 
weight, a word derived from Troyes, a town in 
France that was very important as a business center 
six hundred years ago. The grocers' table is called 
avoirdupois; the name means goods of weight, by 
which we may properly conclude that by this table 
all heavy and bulky goods are weighed. 

The Metric System. The most scientific sys- 
tem of weights and measures is that which is called 
the metric system (from the word meter, meaning 
to measure). The basis, or measuring unit of the 
system for long, or linear, measure is the meter; this 
is a unit which is fixed and unchangeable, for it is 
the distance from the equator to either pole divided 
by 10,000,000 — one-ten-millionth of the distance from 
equator to pole. The actual length of the meter is 
39.37 inches, or about 39^^^ inches; you will see that 
it is a little longer than our yard of 36 inches. 

In metric tables the decimal system is used; that 
is, a unit of each denomination is 10 times as large 
as a unit of the next lower denomination. The table 
for linear measure which follows illustrates this: 

10 millimeters (1/1000 of a meter) = 1 centimeter 

(1/100 of a meter) 
10 centimeters (1/100 of a meter) = 1 decimeter 

(1/10 of a meter) 
10 decimeters (1/10 of a meter) = 1 meter 
10 meters = 1 dekameter 
10 dekameters = 1 hektometer 
10 hektometers = 1 kilometer 

One kilometer is therefore equal to 1,000 times 
the length of a meter, and is therefore 3278.88 feet 
in length. By comparison it is close to ^ of our 
mile. 



Measurements 89 

The unit of land measure is a hectare, which is 
almost 2y2 of our acres. The liter is the liquid meas- 
ure unit, and is a very little larger than our quart. 
In weighing articles the metric unit is the gram, 
which is about 35/100 of our ounce. A kilogram is 
1,000 grains, and it is about 2 1/5 times as heavy as 
our pound. 

You will be interested to know that the metric 
system, with its meters, liters, grams, etc., instead of 
yards, quarts, pounds, is in use in forty-three coun- 
tries of the world. Great Britain and her colonies 
and the United States do not use it, but each may do 
so lawfully. If you would enter a business when 
you become men and women in which goods are 
sold in foreign countries a knowledge of the metric 
system would be necessary. 



Lettering 



When you see a man painting a huge sign you 
always stop to admire his work and wonder at the 
ease with which he forms the letters and words. You 
wish that you could paint letters as easily and as 
nicely as he does it. 

Maybe the sign painter doesn't interest you as 
much as does the man or woman who can take a pen 
and India ink (solid black in color, without shine or 
gloss) and form letters as perfect as those you see in 
print. 

Do not think that the gift of lettering comes to 
anyone without effort. Most expert people have had 
to study hard and practice a great deal in order to do 
good work, and what others have done, remember, 
you may be able to do, if you have patience and per- 
severance. 

Another thing which may give you added cour- 
age: Watch a sign painter. He does not walk up to 
the signboard and begin immediately to paint the 
letters and words ; he carefully blocks out with pencil 
or crayon every letter and every line, then takes his 
paint and fills in the proper spaces. Cannot you 
learn to do this? Are you willing to make a serious 
effort? 

We will make an easy letter first — the capital H, 
in what we call a plain, square Gothic letter, without 
serifs. (That is a new word to you; a serif is a fine 
cross stroke which you see at the top and bottom of 
certain kinds of letters. You are to meet the word 
later in this lesson.) See how it should be blocked 
out, and how the same system of blocking can be used 
for various plain Gothic H's and K's. 

90 



Lettering 91 

The first is a square Gothic; the second a slightly 
condensed; the third a condensed, and the fourth an 
extended Gothic. 




The greatest difficulty you have encountered in 
making these four letters has been in getting your 
guide lines perfectly straight. They should be made 
lightly with a pencil with soft lead, so all trace of 
them can be removed after you have filled the letters 
in with ink. Use ordinary ink for all your present 
practice work, or even a lead pencil will do; when 
you have made good advancement father will buy 
you some India ink. 

Having practiced on H and K make four forms 
of the Gothic capital I, then L, E, F; they will be 
as easy as the H and K, and for them you need no 
patterns. 

You will now wish to try to make some letters with 
oblique and curved lines. Practice on the oblique 
lines first. In the K note particularly how and where 
the oblique lines cross the penciled lines. 




You see above letters from the extended to the 
condensed in form. Practice a great deal on these — 
until you can equal the skill of the young lady who 
drew all the forms you find in this lesson. (She was 
once as inexperienced as you.) 

Next let us work on V, W, X, Y, Z. They present 
difficulties at first similar to those you experience with 
K, but you can master them. Make the letters all 
Gothic in style, square, condensed and extended. 



92 Guide to the Foundation Desk 





*^"^~^ ■— Tl '^k.l.^' 1^ ^ll^^li'^. I ^'\ 




I I 
I 




You have practiced now on about half of the 
letters of the alphabet. M and N present no more 
difficulty than you found with those above. 

Italics. To make italic letters easily it is only 
necessary to slope the penciled direction lines, as 
shown in the following forms: 



mis' 




/m ■/ 



-I- 



Make all the Gothic letters — square, condensed 
and extended in italics. 

Using Serifs. Compare the two letters below, 
and note their difference. 






The fine crosslines at the top and bottom of the 
second H are serifs; their only use is to add a little 
decoration to the letter. Therefore in forming this 
letter you take your first step in decoration. 

Make all of the letters of the alphabet with serifs, 
so far as they can be used (there is no opportunity to 
place them on rounded parts of letters). 

Adding Ornament. Have you been patient and 
painstaking in your effort thus far to produce good 



Lettering - 93 

work? If you have, you will enjoy greatly the ease 
with which you may become expert in making letters 
which are more ornamental — but surely not more 
useful. 

A very practical style of letter is shown in capitals 
and small letters in the last two lines on the chart 
panel. In mastering this style, do not abandon the 
penciled squares; use them in this manner with all 
the letters: 





By following the directions described above in 
detail any diligent boy or girl may become really 
proficient in lettering, even in making the very orna- 
mental and highly fanciful designs. The chart panel 
gives full alphabets covering nine designs. 

Exercise for Credit. Print on a card 4 by 6 
inches the following sign, which you may consider a 
reduced fac simile of a large billboard display. 

VOTE FOR 

JOHN M. OLDBOY 

FOR MAYOR 
ON APRILS 



Boy Scouts 



To Parents. The Boy Scouts organization 
offers for boys just the sort of work and play which 
appeals to them at the ages of twelve to eighteen. 
It provides worth-while occupation, and so prevents 
their time being spent in undesirable ways. It places 
responsibility on the boys, and "responsibility is the 
maker of men." 

It may be stated as a truth that boys will always 
organize unconsciously into "gangs." This is a psy- 
chological fact, and authorities are ever studying 
how to direct the "gang" activities into harmless and 
helpful channels. The "gang" impulse recognized 
and directed can be made a strong factor in the de- 
velopment into useful citizenship. The Boy Scout 
idea is the best outlet for boys' activities so far de- 
vised. 

The tendency to hero worship causes the boy to 
imitate and follow the lead of someone; the Scout 
movement provides worthy ideals and examples. 
The desire to serve and sacrifice for a principle — the 
spirit of the age of chivalry and the Crusaders — is 
characteristic of adolescent boys. They want to do 
something for others, preferably for the universe. 
The opportunity to co-operate with forces for good 
to the improvement of the community and for the 
benefit of all gives scope to this disposition. This 
is the period when good leadership will aid the boy 
to become an ambitious, conscientious, useful mem- 
ber of society, while bad influences may drag him 
into a gang of hoodlums. 

Love of outdoors, nature, wild animals, camping, 
hiking and primitive environment may be used to 
teach the wood lore and wood craft which is needed 



94 



Boy Scouts 



95 



LANYARD 

PATROL 
LEADER 

OFFICIAL 
BELT 

«v^w ROPE OR 

^}\ TWINE 

HANGING 

FROM HOOK 

COOKING KIT 



for safety and which contributes to healthful, enjoy- 
able recreation. Interest is sustained by continually 
offering something new and more advanced to learn 
and do. 

But parents cannot 
turn the formation of 
their boys' character 
over to the scoutmaster haversack- 
— nor to the teacher, 
the pastor, nor to all 
three together. Parents scout 
must study their child, ^^^~ 
his needs, his disposi- canteen 
tion and peculiarities, 
and plan to provide for 
him the environment, 
activities and influ- 
ences he needs. Boys 
who "go right" will go 
right because they have leggTngs 
been trained and led 
by parents who are 
willing to give time 
and thought and help 
to their needs. They 

go wrong because the parents do not take time to 
know and lead them. Fathers and mothers should be 
familiar with the Scout Masters' Handbook so they 
will know what their son is aiming at, and why. 
They should talk with the Scout Master, keep in 
touch with the aims, progress and achievements of 
the troop, and stand ready to help when called upon. 

A Scout Troop can be no better than its Scout 
Master. See that a good Scout Master is chosen, 
then give him support and assistance. He must have 
a Troop Committee. Your interest in your boy 
should lead you as his father to volunteer on that 
committee. 




A Boy Scout's Equipment 



96 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



The Scout movement was organized in England in 
1907 by Lieutenant-General Sir Robert S. S. Baden- 
Powell. In February, 1910, the ritual and condi- 
tions were revised to suit American conditions, and 
the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated. 

Since that time the 
._ __ movement has spread all 
over the world, twenty- 
six countries having 
Scout organizations. 
Many noted men, in- 
cluding the writer of 
animal stories, Ernest 
Thompson Seton, who 
s was chairman of the 
committee on permanent 
organization, have 
helped to work out the 
principles and practices. 

Hunting with the Camera Better The first meeting of the 
THAN Hunting to Kill ^. , . , 

national council was 
held at the White House in Washington, and was 
addressed by William Howard Taft, who was then 
President, and who agreed to become Honorary 
President of the organization. Col. Theodore Roose- 
velt was Honorary Vice-President, and later was 
First Scout Citizen. 

The national headquarters are at 200 Fifth Ave- 
nue, New York City. Make application there for 
information on how to proceed to organize a troop in 
your community. 




WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BOY SCOUT 

The Scout badge stands for trustworthiness, cour- 
tesy, honor, thoughtfulness and clean living. The 
work promotes character and good citizenship. 



Boy Scouts 



97 



It is every boy's business to keep himself healthy 
and strong, to keep himself clean, and to get an edu- 
cation. If all the boys of the community are trying 
to do the same thing, they can be of great help to 
one another. 

Legally, a boy becomes a man on the day he is 
twenty-one. He goes to bed one evening as a boy; 
he wakes up the next morning a man. 

There is never any doubt about the kind of man 
a boy will be. Anyone can tell. He will be just 
the kind of man that he was boy. There is no magic 
which can change him overnight. 

We grow to be like the ideals we set our minds 
on and work towards. It is never too early to begin 
planning and studying and working for what we hope 
to achieve. 

It is a good idea to think over the names of men 
you know, to decide which one you want to be like, 
and then to train and educate yourself to be that kind 
of man. 

If you want to be like 
the village ne'er-do-well 
just shirk and loaf and 
always be just too late and 
never assume any responsi- 
bility. But if you expect 
to be a man to whom the 
community will look for 
leadership, to whom men 
will come for information, 
good judgments, decisions 
as to the right and wrong, 
begin training now. 

You cannot begin too early to develop some learn- 
ing along lines which interest you. It takes a long 
time to become proficient in anything that is worth 
while. To be a photographer requires much learn- 
ing about color, lights, shadows, time, distance and 




He is Taught Good Manners 



98 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



artistic effects. To be a farmer, begin now to learn 
about and work with stock and grains, legumes and 
grasses, soils, and cultivation, farm management and 
marketing, and how good roads, waterways, railway 
rates and the Board of Trade affect your future busi- 
ness. 

Boy Scout work will give you some of the infor- 
mation and help you get in touch with other sources 
of practical knowledge. 

Any boy over twelve 
years of age who likes 
to hike, track, swim or 
camp, is interested in 
wild life — plants, trees, 
animals, wood lore — 
first aid or signaling, or 
who would like to learn 
more about any of these 
things, gain general in- 
formation and fit him- 
self to be of service to 
others, may become a 
member of a scout troop. 
If there is none near you, ask your father and the 
other boys' fathers to help you organize one. Get 
a Boy Scout Handbook and learn what to do. 

Scout Requirements. There are three ranks, 
named Tenderfoot, Second Class Scout and First 
Class Scout. 

A Tenderfoot is a Scout on probation. He prom- 
ises on his honor to observe the following regulations: 

1. Do his duty to God and country, and obey the 
Scout Law. Help others at all times. (Do a daily 
good turn.) 

Keep himself physically strong, mentally awake 
and morally straight. (He cannot help others un- 
less he is.) 

2. He must know the composition and history of 




He is Dependable 



Boy Scouts 



99 



the national flag and the customary forms of respect 
due to it. 

3. He must be able to tie four knots selected from 
a list of ten. 

If a Tenderfoot studies and works, at the end of 
a month he may pass the tests and qualify as a Second 
Class Scout. 

The Second Class Scout cultivates habits of ob- 
servation, resourcefulness, thrift and ability to adapt 
himself to conditions. The requirements are: 

1. A month's service, to establish habits. 

2. Knowledge of First Aid and Bandaging. 

3. Knowledge of Signaling. 

4. Tracking a half-mile in twenty-five minutes, 
following a trail laid out and indicated by pieces of 
paper or a similar device. This is to train in the 
habit of observation. In town observing four win- 
dows for a minute each, and telling the contents of 
one, may be substituted for this test. 

5. Travel one mile in 
twelve minutes at scout's 
pace — fifty steps running 
alternated with fifty steps 
walking. This pace may be 
kept up for a long time with- 
out tiring, and once accu- 
rately attained serves as a 
measure of both time and 
distance. 

6. Use of knife and 
hatchet. (Whittle away 
from you, not toward you. 
Don't try to whittle wood 
with nails in it. Don't carry 
an open knife in your hand, etc.) 

7. Firemaking without paper and with only two 
matches. 




He IS Kind to the Aged 



100 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



8. Cook without ordinary kitchen utensils two 
of a list of dishes. 

9. Earn and bank $1.00. (Cultivate the habit 
of thrift.) 

10. Be able to box the sixteen principal points of 
the compass. 

A First Class Scout acquires a sense of commu- 
nity obligations, learns to cooperate with others for 
the public welfare and to render public service. In 
brief, he assumes his place as one of the citizens of 
the community. The first requirement of leadership 

is the ability to cooper- 
ate with others — as 
someone has said, to 
"so conduct yourself 
that others can work 
with you." Every 
scout should aim to be 
a leader and to lead in 
the right direction. 

A First Class Scout 
must do advanced work 
in some of the lines 
taken up as a Second Class Scout, besides becoming 
proficient in additional acquirements. He must fur- 
nish evidence that he has put into practice the prin- 
ciples of the Scout oath and law — is trustworthy, 
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, 
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent. He 
must train and enlist a boy as a Tenderfoot, thus 
passing along the good he has gained from his Scout 
membership. 

First Class Scouts may win merit badges for ad- 
vanced work in the various crafts; five merit badges 
entitle him to a Life Scout badge, ten to the Star 
Scout badge; twenty-one merit badges, which in- 
clude such essential ones as First aid, life saving and 
personal health, give him the rank of an Eagle Scout. 




He is Humane 



Boy Scouts 101 

As the First Class Scout becomes more advanced and 
more acquainted with the meaning and benefits of 
the work, he may become Assistant Scout Master 
and finally a Scout Master, helping to train other 
boys in the principles and practice of Scout law, 
which means helping them to Be Prepared (the 
Scout motto) for whatever emergencies may arise. 

Scout craft includes such commonplace but nec- 
essary things as knowing how to resuscitate people 
who are unconscious as the result of being nearly 
drowned; how to avoid accidents; how to cook a 
simple meal; how to care for his personal health; 
how to play; how to help in whatever the community 
needs to have done. 

Boy Scouts can always be depended on to help 
put over any good movement — getting rid of flies; 
taking subscriptions for the library; assisting the 
police when there are circus-day or fair-day crowds; 
directing strangers, or whatever needs doing. Dur- 
ing the World War Boy Scouts were ushers at patri- 
otic meetings, they paraded, and they sold many 
million dollars' worth of Liberty Bonds. It was the 
help he received from a Boy Scout in England which 
led W. D. Boyce to bring the movement to the atten- 
tion of leading men of this country and resulted in 
the incorporation of the national organization. 

The knots which the Scout ties remind him to do 
a daily good turn ; the badge with its three points 
suggests the three promises of the Scout oath; the 
motto (Be Prepared) keeps him ever on the alert to 
make himself more efficient, more observing, more 
dependable. The Scout Law expressed in five words 
is: Honesty, Courage, Kindliness, Loyalty, Serv- 
ice — good guideposts for anyone. 



Camp Fire Girls 

To Parents. Because Camp Fire Girls have 
ceremonial costumes, and honors represented by 
beads, mothers and fathers should not think that "it 
is all play-acting." Even if it were, grown men and 
women wear expensive and sometimes almost ridicu- 
lous costumes, and take part in ceremonies at initia- 
tions and parties, which to many people appear fool- 
ish. If "play-acting" interests grown people, think 
how much more it appeals to young people. 

However, there is a worth-while meaning to all 
the Camp Fire symbols which helps to impress the 
truths taught and at the same time provides relaxa- 
tion and contributes to a happy outlook upon life. 
"Camp Fire Girls," says their manual, "is an organ- 
ized effort to find romance, beauty and adventure 
in everyday life. It seeks to make the homely task 
contribute to the joy of everyday living. It aims 
to aid in the forming of health habits, cultivate the 
out-of-door spirit, create standards of women's work, 
and give girls an opportunity to learn team-work by 
working together — to give status and social recogni- 
tion to mothers' knowledge and achievements, foster 
the intimate relationship of mother and daughter 
and develop a sympathetic understanding of eco- 
nomic relationships." 

The Home Craft, Nature Lore, and Business 
Training give daughters the education mothers have 
been too busy to give at home, and which we have 
not yet learned to include in the education given at 
school. This training is a liberal education in gen- 
eral knowledge, common sense and common things. 
It takes the drudgery out of household tasks and 

102 



Camp Fire Girls 103 

makes the work of home-keeping dignified, glorified, 
systematized and significant. 

Take time to read over the outline of the work 
and the meaning of the organization. Notice the 
things there are to learn, and how the applicant must 
qualify for the different ranks, and you will agree 
that the girls have a right to be proud when they have 
attained honors. If you do not know what the or- 
ganization stands for and what the honors signify, 
you cannot intelligently recognize the achievement 
nor share their pride in what they have accomplished. 

You can help institute a Camp Fire in your com- 
munity. Perhaps you can serve as Guardian of the 
Fire. Mothers make the best of Guardians, if they 
enter into the spirit of the work. 

A Guardian does not need to know everything 
about the Camp Fire program. If she is not an ex- 
pert in photography or cannot swim or do carpentry, 
she can get those who do these things to give that in- 
struction. The Guardian's pin means that the wearer 
is dependable, has standing in the community, that 
she works for and loves girls. She stands guard. 
Write to the National Headquarters, Camp Fire 
Girls, New York City, and ask for instruction for 
organizing a Camp Fire in your community. 

Things Camp Fire Girls Learn to Do and Be 

The Camp Fire Girls is an organization of girl? 
who want to make life just as splendid as possible; 
it is an army of girls who do things. It aims to de- 
velop the home spirit and extend it to the entire com- 
munity; to help people realize that mothers' knowl- 
edge and mothers' work are as important, as worth- 
while, and may be made as dignified, as interesting, 
and as instructive as the work in an office or a school- 
room — that home-keeping is the biggest business 
there is in the world. It aims to make beautiful. 



104 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



purposeful service of what has seemed drudgery, to 
promote happy social life and provide wholesome, 
interesting recreation. 

There is unhappiness, suffering, loneliness every- 
where. The women of the community must take 
the lead in changing this. You cannot help unless 




Around the Camp Fire 

you know how. You must be educated and trained 
to give service — nobody can do anything worth while 
without training. Camp Fire craft work provides 
the broadest kind of education for body, mind and 
heart. It helps girls to become efficient, happy 
home-makers and useful, dependable citizens. 

The Camp Fire Girls' organization was perfected 
in 1912 to provide for girl leadership and instruction, 
in just the same way as the Boy Scout movement is 
intended for boys. Hon. Woodrow Wilson was at 
one time Honorary President, and Chief Justice and 
former President William Howard Taft was Hon- 
orary Vice-President. Miss Jane Addams, Judge 
Ben Lindsay, and Dr. and Mrs. Luther Gulick are 
among the people who have helped establish the 
work. 



Camp Fire Girls 105 

The law of the Camp Fire is to ''Seek Beauty, 
Give Service, Pursue Knowledge, Be Trustworthy, 
Hold On to Health, Glorify Work, Be Happy." 

People are not trustworthy by accident. It takes 
thinking, resolution and steady habit. You cannot 
grow in a minute into the kind of woman you want 
to be. You must begin now and establish habits. 
More people succeed because they are splendidly 
healthy — have reserve power, can stand work, others 
cannot stand — than for any other reason. No one 
can be a leader who does not have so much physical 
energy that her spirits are bubbling over. Health 
means correct habits of diet, exercise and thinking, 
sound sleep, and enough of it, and joy in living. 
Beauty means cleanliness, health, correct posture, 
kindly manners, a pleasing voice, well-cared-for skin, 
teeth, hands and hair. Worth-while qualities do not 
come by accident, nor are they acquired over night. 
They are established by preparation, attention and 
habit. You can make the desire for things which are 
good and healthful become a part of yourself. 

The organization of Camp Fire Girls helps you 
to know what things are worth while; it teaches you 
what you need to know about those subjects, and the 
doing of the things called for establishes habit which 
crystallizes into character. 

There must be not fewer than six nor more than 
twenty girls to a Camp Fire; ten to fourteen is the 
best number. A Camp Fire girl must have passed 
her twelfth birthday. Girls between the ages of 
six and twelve may become Blue Birds. Each Camp 
Fire should have at least one Nest of Blue Birds to 
look after and train. Each Camp Fire is in charge 
of a Guardian of the Fire, who may be the mother 
of some of the girls, or any dependable woman over 
eighteen who has the mother instinct and can lead 
girls. 

The three ranks are Wood Gatherer, Fire Maker, 



106 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 




On Duty 



Torch Bearer. You may see the symbol of each 
rank on the chart panel. The badges are a silver 
fagot ring for Wood Gatherers; a bracelet, suitably 
engraved, for the Fire Makers, and a pin on which 
are the sun and a pine tree, for the Torch Bearers. 
The sun is the general symbol of fire, and the pine 
tree signifies simplicity and strength. 

Attainments are rec- 
ognized by honors sym- 
bolized by colored 
beads. The required 
honors for becoming a 
Fire Maker are indi- 
cated by purple beads. 
Elective honors are 
represented by differ- 
ent colored beads: 
Home Craft, flame 
color, because fire is the 
center of a home; Health Craft, red, for blood; 
Camp Craft, brown, for woods; Fland Craft, green, 
for growing things; Nature Lore, blue, for sky; 
Business, yellow, for gold; Patriotism, red, white 
and blue. Do you see how much good fun there is 
in it, besides all the things you can learn? 

A Wood Gatherer who works may become a Fire 
Maker at the end of a year. Fire Makers may be- 
come Torch Bearers when they have the required 
honors. These honors include, among other things, 
helping to buy, cook and serve a Camp Fire meal 
and care for the fire; mending a pair of stockings; 
keeping her personal account for a month; sleeping 
with open windows; taking a half-hour's daily out- 
door exercise each day for a month; knowing the 
causes of infant mortality in the summer, and how it 
has been reduced; knowing what to do in such emer- 
gencies as clothing on fire, fainting, an open cut; 



Camp Fire Girls 107 

suitable dress for cold or wet weather, and for tramp- 
ing; preventives of constipation; the story of some 
woman who has done something for the country or 
state. 

The symbol of the organization is fire, because 
homes were first built around fires; the salutation 
is the hand sign for fire, and is made by flattening 
the fingers of the right hand across the fingers of 
the left hand, to indicate crossed logs, then raising 
the right hand, following the curves of a flame until 
the index finger points straight up. 

The watchword, TVo-he-lo, with the accent on the 
second syllable, is made from the first two letters 
of the words Work, Health and Love. 

Torch Bearers, as their name indicates, should 
carry the knowledge they have to others. A Torch 
Bearer should be a leader, or should show special 
skill in some craft. She is an assistant to the Guar- 
dian, and so must be trustworthy, happy, unselfish, 
a good leader and a good team-worker. 

There are so many interesting things to do that 
we cannot tell you half of them; but just to give 
you an idea, a few are mentioned: Canning and pre- 
serving; making butter; removing 
stains; invalid cookery; care for 
baby; cook Sunday dinner and let 
mother rest; sing, play, recite; 
identify trees, flowers, ferns, 
mosses, apples, birds, trees; raise 
a crop; care of colds; help organ- 
ize and carry out an appropriate 
celebration for a national holiday; 
know family history; learn about A Dependable 

boards of health, ventilation and 
sanitation of factories; take a position and hold it 
successfully for four months; be on time. Are these 
worth knowing and doing? 




108 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

There are so many beautiful things connected 
with the lore of Camp Fire we cannot tell you all of 
them, but here are a few: 

The Wood Gatherer's Desire 

As fagots are brought from the forest, 

Firmly held by the sinews which bind them, 
I will cleave to my Camp Fire Sisters 
Wherever, whenever, I find them. 

I will strive to grow strong like the pine tree, 

To be pure in my deepest desire; 
To be true to the truth that is in me, 

And follow the Law of the Fire. 



The Fire Maker's Desire 

As fuel is brought to the fire 

So I purpose to bring 

My strength 

My ambition 

My heart's desire 

My joy 

And my sorrow 

To the fire 

Of humankind. 

For I will tend 

As my fathers have tended 

And my father's fathers 

Since time began 

The fire that is called 

The love of man for man 

The love of man for God. 

— John Collier. 



The Torch Bearer's Desire 

That light which has 
Been given to me 
I desire to pass 
Undimmed to others. 



Camp Fire Girls 109 

"We glorify work because through work we are free. We 
work for the joy of working." 

"We hold on to health because through health we serve and are 
happy." 

"We love love, for love is life and light and joy and sweetness, 
comradeship, motherhood, fatherhood, and all dear kinship." 

Would you like a Camp Fire in your neighbor- 
hood? Do you think mother and the other girls' 
mothers can be induced to help arrange for one? 



Kites 



Kite flying in the springtime! This is one of the 
jolliest and most interesting sports we can enjoy out 
of doors. It is real fun to feel the tug of the kite far 
up in the air, to know that we can haul it in, or give 
it more string and let it fly higher, and to watch it 
swaying under the blue sky like a captive bird. 

Boys and girls in many different parts of the 
world have been flying kites for hundreds of years. 
To-day, brown-skinned boys on the other side of the 
world are having the same good times as their white 
brothers, making and flying kites. In fact, kite-flying 
is more common in Japan, China and other countries 
of Asia than in our own. One good reason for this 
is that the bamboo plant, which grows in these coun- 
tries, provides a light, strong wood that is easily bent 
but not easily broken, and is the best wood in the 
world for the frame of a soaring kite. 

There are several stories to explain the invention 
of the kite ; it is hard to tell who thought of it first, 
when we remember that even savage tribes were fly- 
ing kites centuries ago. The people of Korea have 
one of the most interesting stories about it. They say 
that the first kite was made and sent up into the air 
by one of their generals, who wished to encourage 
his soldiers just before a battle. This general fast- 
ened a lantern to the kite, and when the soldiers saw 
the bright light in the sky they thought a new star 
had been placed in the heavens as a sign of divine 
help for their cause. This is a pretty story; sup- 
pose we make believe that it is true, anyway. 

In China they have special kite days, when men 
and boys by the thousands make for the hillsides to 
enjoy themselves. Some of their kites are so big 

110 



Kites 



111 



that they will lift men off their feet into the air. 
Humming kites, having round holes provided with 
vibrating cords, are very popular. In some parts of 
Eastern Asia kite-fighting is a common outdoor sport. 
The strings are rubbed with a mixture of glue and 
crushed glass to make them stiff. The owner of one 
kite will try to get it on the windward side of another, 




Common Form of Kite 



then let it drift against the second kite and with a 
sudden jerk cut the string in two. It takes a good 
deal of skill to cut down a kite or to keep one's own 
kite safe. 



112 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



Useful Kites. We must not forget, however, 
that kites are more than playthings. Our Weather 
Bureau Service uses kites to learn about conditions 
in the air, such as temperature and amount of mois- 
ture. Small instruments that record these facts are 
fastened to wires, which are lifted far up into the 
air by teams of kites flying tandem. Kites have also 
been used to take photographs from the air, to show 
signals on the battlefield, and in wireless telegraphy. 
We might have heard more about them in the great 
World War if it had not been for the wonderful rec- 
ord of the aeroplanes. 

Benjamin Franklin was the first man in our own 
country to use a kite to aid science. In the year 1752 
he sent up a kite during a thunderstorm, and by 
means of a wire running down from the kite along 
the string, he proved that lightning is electricity. 
Scientists tell us that Franklin might easily have been 
killed by lightning when he tried this experiment. 
To-day, men who work with kites know how to pro- 
tect themselves. 

KITE MAKING 

The Common Kite. The simplest form of kite 
and the one seen most often is the plain surface kite 
whose framework consists of two sticks of different 




lengths, placed one upon the other so that they form 
a cross. When the sticks are fastened together with 
a cord, as here shown, they are said to be lashed. 



Kites 



113 



We must be careful to have the two opposite sides 
of the framework equal, because otherwise Our kite 
will jerk to one side, or perhaps come down suddenly 
to the ground, or maybe not go up at all. To find 
the center of each stick by measuring with a piece 
of string is an easy matter. The two ends of each 
stick should also be the same in weight, and if after 
balancing the sticks over a knife blade you find that 
the ends vary, carefully whittle down the parts that 
are too thick. You will find that soft, tough woods, 
like spruce and basswood, are best to work with. 
Stringing and Covering. These are very im- 




portant steps in kite-making. The string goes all 
around the ends of the framework, providing a sup- 
port for the covering. Use strong cord that will not 
break easily. Cut notches in the ends of the sticks, 
and then stretch the cord through these slits, fasten- 
ing it at the top of the spine. To cover the frame, 
paste light-weight paper over it, turning the edges 
neatly down over the cord. Stout tissue paper in 



114 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

bright colors makes a very pretty kite, but plain 
wrapping paper or even newspaper will do very 
nicely if nothing else is at hand. 

Making the Bridle. Most kites need a bridle 
to fly at the right slant and with proper poise. Bridles 
are rather loose strings fastened to the framework. 
Where the strings cross the kite line is attached. 
Different kinds of bridles are here shown. The 
diagram with the letters a, b, c, d, e shows a bridle 
fastened at the bottom of the spine (d) and the place 
where the bow and spine cross (a). The kite line is 
attached at the point c, and the length from « to ^ is 
the same as the distance from a to c. Also, bd and 
cd are equal. If we should pull the bridle over to 
the left, c would just touch e. The upper of the 
other two diagrams shows a three-string bridle, and 
the lower one shows a four-string bridle. 

Lines and Tails. The line of our play kite 
needs to be only good cotton string, the harder twisted 
the better. For stronger pulling kites some people 
like twisted linen twine, shoemaker's thread or cord. 
It must be light and strong; scientists have found 
that for their working kites, piano wire is the best. 
They use reels for such lines, and so can ingenious 
boys. 

The weight of its tail will keep the kite in posi- 
tion and at the right angle to the wind. We also like 
to see a tail trailing gracefully behind. It should 
be from ten to fifteen times the length of the kite, 
and should be made of a cord, on which strips of 
paper or cloth are tied at intervals. A heavier bunch 
hangs at the end. For extra beauty we might use 
colored paper balls or some made of three intersect- 
ing cardboard discs, or we might use light ropes 
with tassels, as do the Japanese boys, our Christmas 
stock of paper, rope and tinsel coming in handy. 

Tailless Kites. But if we are up to date, we 
must know how to make tailless kites. These are 



Kites 



115 



always regular in form, with the bow bent back- 
ward, and the covering baggy. The tailless "Eddy" 
has a spine and bow, in form of a cross just like the 
first kite described; but the bow is bent backward 




Kite Tails 

by means of a brace stick (about three inches long 
in a three-foot kite) inserted between the middle of 
the bow, and a string stretched between the ends. 
When the covering is put on, we cut it 1^/2 inches 
larger around than the frame, and fold in only ^ 
inch. That will make the necessary bagginess. 'We 
can have other shapes by using several spines and 



116 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



bows. The star kite or shield can be tailless, if it 
has a bowed front to face the wind, and a bagg}'' 
covering. The bridle is attached at top and bottom 
of the spine or at the bottom and crossing of spine 
and bow. 

'Box Kite. Another very modern tailless kite is 
the box kite, which is a little harder to make. It 
looks like two square boxes with no bottoms or tops, 
set one on top of the other, with sticks to keep them 



FRAME^ 




CROSS- 
PIECE 



Box Kite 

the right distance apart. We need four sticks of 
equal length, four shorter sticks for braces, two stout 
cloth strips and glue. We glue or stitch half-inch 
hems on each band and join the ends to make two 
separate cloth "belts." We glue the bands to the 
sticks as shown, making the box shapes. Then we 
notch the cross-pieces to fit into the frame sticks in- 
side the boxes, glue and lash them tight. The cross 
pieces must be long enough to brace the sides firmly. 
The bridle and line are attached as shown in the 



Kites 



117 



drawing. Now we can go out and fly our little aero- 
plane. 

Fanciful Kites. The box kites are the best and 
most useful of the designs that are unusual. They 
have many more complicated forms, but they are 
entirely practical. Some of the boys may be more 
interested, perhaps, in the fanciful and amusing kites, 
which must have tails for balance. We can make 
them brilliant in color and varied in form with tis- 
sue paper and paints, with windmills and movable 




Fish Kite 

cardboard attachments — to say nothing of tails! We 
always have our stick framework, of course, but we 
must also have split bamboo for the curved outlines. 
The bamboo can be bent to shape easily, if heated 
or if wet, and then dried in the shape wanted. The 
joinings must be firmly lashed. String will make 
the softer outlines, as in the sails of the ship kite or 
the points of the star. 



118 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Suppose we try the butterfly or the fish kite. The 
fish kite has its bow and spine in the regular position, 
only we lay it on its side. The fish's body is made 
with bamboo, its tail and fins with string; the eyes, 
mouth, etc., we shall have to paint. The butterfly 
is a little more complicated. We make each side 
separately, then lash the two together, as shown. We 
have four sticks, you note, for the framework, and 
bamboo for the curves. Two broom straws, crossed, 
make the head and "feelers." Here's a good oppor- 
tunity to use our paints in an artistic way. 

The star and shield kites are tail kites, too, and 
are easily made. We might have some very fanci- 
ful loops of small stars dangling from the three 
lower points of the star kite to make the tail. Then 
cardboard attachments are interesting, too, like the 
clapper in the bell kite and the hull of the ship kite. 
If we want these movable, we attach them with a 
loop of string. Some boys make the legs of their 
men and women kites of cardboard, and attach them 
so they do acrobatic stunts in the air. 

Now we shall have to try the boy or the girl kite, 
even if we know they are going to be difficult to 
balance accurately around the spine. Suppose we 
try the boy first, as he has straighter lines. We will 
make him four feet high. Then we need four sticks 
of the following lengths: two each 3 ft. 9 in., for 
legs and body; one 2 ft. 6 in. for the spine; one 3 ft. 
5 in., for arms. Smaller dimensions, kept propor- 
tionate in length, may be used, if desirable. 

We shall cross the leg and body sticks, as shown, 
with the spine exactly in the middle. We attach the 
arm stick at its center point to the spine. The head 
we make of bamboo, also the feet and hands. The 
spine must halve the head exactly. When these ex- 
tremities are lashed on firmly, we fasten small cross 
sticks to the ends of the arm and leg sticks for sleeve 
and trouser supports. Then we outline the body 



Kites 119 

and neck with one string, the arms with another, and 
the trousers with a third. 

Now we are ready to paste our tissue paper to- 
gether, one color for the face and hands, another! for 
the trousers, a third for the coat, and black for the 
feet. We place the framework on our paper patch 
work, cut around the frame, leaving )/ inch for turn- 
ing over the edge. We snip the edge at intervals 
around the curved outlines, paste a section at a time, 
and fit it smoothly over the frame. Then we use 
our paint brush for face, buttons, ties, etc., and the 
frame for our boy kite is done. The bridle we at- 
tach from left foot to right shoulder and from right 
foot to left shoulder, the line being attached at the 
crossing. The tail band hangs from a loose string 
connecting the two leg ends. We shall try a girl 
kite next, remembering to have plenty of bamboo 
and paint for her decoration. Then we can try all 
sorts of men and women, some with dangling feet, 
too. 

Now, having learned how to make many kinds 
of kites, we can have a tournament, and put a dozen 
into the air at once! 



T^lan of My House 

No douDt you have made houses out of building 
blocks, sand forts on the beach, and tents or play- 
houses in your back yard. It was a great deal of 
fun, too, and you liked to pretend you were living 
in those places. You have been doing just what 
your ancestors did thousands of years ago — building 
houses of the stuff that was handiest and in the sim- 
plest possible fashion. That is what the Eskimo 
still do when they make their snow-brick homes that 
look like bowls, upside down. Your ancestors went 
ahead with no particular plan, building their shelters 
in the simplest way, as was easiest. 

But nowadays we are much more particular about 
the houses we are going to live in. We aren't satis- 
fied with a one-room house in the middle of which is 
an open fire, with the smoke going out of a hole in 
the roof. Of course it isn't so many years ago that 
such log huts were built in this country, and pioneers 
had to be satisfied with them. There are still very 
crude shacks built in some parts of the country, where 
there are very few people. 

But pride in beautiful homes began a long, long 
time before Christ, in such countries as Egypt, 
Greece and Rome. We know that, for we can dig 
down under heaps of earth in those countries and 
find wonderful houses, planned very carefully and 
furnished very magnificently. We still like to con- 
struct the Greek or Roman type of building, with its 
simple lines and beautiful pillars; most of our pub- 
lic buildings in Washington, our national capital, are 
in the Greek and Roman style. Then think of the 
picturesque old castles and chateaus in Europe, some 
of them almost a thousand years old. They are not 

120 



Plan of My House 121 

at all comfortable or convenient, as we want houses 
nowadays, but they are very charming, with their 
towers, carvings and decorations. They, too, have 
taught us much about building. 

It is no wonder, then, that with all this experience 
behind us, we are more than ever interested to-day 
in making our homes beautiful. But we modern 
people are even more interested in making our homes 
comfortable and healthful, for we know how impor- 
tant that is for the happiness of everyone. We want 
houses that can be heated evenly by a furnace, hot 
water or steam plant in the basement, a bathroom, 
supplying hot and cold water for the daily bath, a 
great many windows admitting sunshine and fresh 
air, a good system of lights, furnishing the soft glow 
that prevents eye-strain, numerous closets where 
clothes, linens and playthings may be kept in order, 
a pantry that will be cool and fresh, an icebox that 
can be filled from the outside, a cellar that is clean 
and airy, and a yard where boys and girls can play 
comfortably. 

You see there is much to think about — so much 
that most houses nowadays are planned by skilled 
men called architects, who have a taste for drawing 
and an education which has trained them in every- 
thing connected with the building of homes. When 
someone wants a satisfactory home he goes to such a 
man and asks him to show him pictures and plans of 
houses from which he may choose. Often he asks 
the architect to change a plan to suit him, or to make 
an entirely new one. Then the contractor takes over 
the plan, hires the bricklayers, carpenters and plas- 
terers, and in a few months the house is completed. 
The man and his wife and children still have to make 
it into a home ; you tell us how they do that. 

Sometimes clever persons who love home build- 
ing very much just learn a few things from architects' 
drawings, then go ahead and make their own plans. 



122 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

That is much more interesting, and that is what we 
suggest you do. You can learn from the chart much 
that is necessary for making a plan. Study it care- 
fully. The architect first decided upon the style and 
material of the house, the size of the lot and the size 
of the house that would look well on it. This archi- 
tect decided on a stucco bungalow with a pillared 
porch, of a size suitable for a fifty-foot lot. Then 
he settled on the number of rooms and their arrange- 
ment, the porches, bay windows, gables, etc. By that 
time he was able to make you both the picture and 
the plan, the latter being an outline drawing of the 
floor space of the house, taken from above, with the 
roof removed. 

Before drawing the plan he decided on his scale 
for measuring; that is, how many feet an inch of 
line in his drawing was to represent. Note that the 
bungalow in the chart is about thirty by fifty feet, 
counting the porches, but not the front and back 
stairs; it contains five rooms and two porches, a 
staircase from the living room to the attic, a bath- 
room, a pantry, a hall, lots of closets, a fireplace and 
numerous cupboards and fixtures. The outer walls 
are shown by a heavy black line, interrupted by 
spaces which mean windows; the inner walls are 
shown by a finer line. The doors are represented 
by lines and arcs showing which way they swing; all 
the fixtures are outlined. When the architect 
sketched the outside of the house, he suggested even 
something of trees and shrubbery for a background, 
for a pretty house must have an attractive setting. 

Now you are the architect, and you are going to 
plan the house you'd like to live in. What style 
shall it be, a bungalow or two-story house? Suppose 
you start simply with a small house something like 
the one in the chart. It would be well, first, to make 
a drawing of the floor plan of the house on the chart 
panel, for practice. You might then try a small 



Plan of My House 



123 



bungalow with a kitchen at the back and the two 
bedrooms connected with the bath. You might add 
a screened porch; one that goes around the side of 
the house would be attractive. Then you might try 
a two-story house, with all the bedrooms upstairs, 




Can You Give One Reason Why This Plan is Not the Most 
Economical? 

and make a plan for each floor. It would be inter- 
esting, too, to work out the basement, with the fur- 
nace room, coal bins, fruit cellar, laundry and per- 
haps a playroom for small boys and girls. Just one 
suggestion : 5'-ou can save much money on plumbing 
if you see to it, as the plan on the panel does, that 



124 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

the kitchen and bathroom fixtures come where they 
can use the same main pipes for water. If you plan 
a two-story house, see that your bathroom pipes con- 
nect with the kitchen pipes just below. Make floor 
plans of such houses as you would like to live in, 
being careful to draw them to scale. A good scale 
is four feet to one inch, or eight feet to one inch, if 
you prefer. 

There are all sorts of beautiful two-story houses, 
but until you get more ideas about styles you might 
cut out of magazines the pictures of pretty houses 
and then see if you can plan their interiors. Then 
later on you can pretend you are rich, and plan houses 
with a number of extra rooms, such as a library and 
a den downstairs, a sewing room, a nursery or a play- 
room upstairs, and possibly servants' rooms with baths 
on the third floor. You can also plan for a tennis 
court, a rose garden, a swimming pool, etc., on your 
grounds. It is great fun to give your imagination a 
chance to build these wonderful "castles in Spain." 

Suppose now you finally have a plan that suits 
you perfectly and makes you really wish your father 
could build such a house. You can build only a 
model to be sure, but that is very interesting. Use 
cardboard, or better still, beaver board. Let one 
inch represent a foot, and make your house to scale. 
Construct .the four outer walls, cutting the windows 
the right size and covering them on the inside with 
oiled paper, which looks just like glass. Fit the walls 
together, add your chimney on the outside of the wall 
containing your fireplace, and attach your porch. 
You can make your stairs out of heavy paper, if not 
of cardboard. 

The roof must be constructed to fit, but left re- 
movable so that you can get at the inside of the house. 
Now you can put in your partitions, with the doors 
cut out and hinged with paper. If you are patient 



Plaii of My House 



125 



you can put in most of the fixtures. Then paste your 
house on a board representing the lot and think about 
your grounds. Pieces of dried weeds will make fine 
trees; pieces of sponge, colored green, make good 
bushes ; and moss makes natural looking grass. You 
can even have a pool in your garden by using a piece 
of mirror and surrounding it with moss. It would 
then be a simple matter to paint your house, trim- 




New England Colonial Type 



ming the window frames, doors and porches as you 
think pretty. 

If you should be interested in furnishing your 
house, you must think up a color scheme for each 
room, remembering that plain walls and a plain car- 
pet make a good background for gayly-colored furni- 
ture. Your mother's scrap bag will provide the 
carpets, curtains and covers for the furniture. The 
furniture itself you can make out of berry-box wood 
or beaver board. As you go on perhaps you can add 



126 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



a good many things to your house, such as a garage, 
an arbor, flower beds, etc. 

After you've tried making a simple house, you 
may get interested in the various kinds of houses 
popular in different sections of the United States. 
Perhaps the New England colonial type will appeal 
to you, the kind Longfellow was born in and all the 
famous New Englanders lived in. That is, as you 




Mount Vernok 



see, just a plain two or three-story house with its 
long side facing the street and with a picket fence or 
hedge around it. It is usually painted white, and 
has green wooden shutters on the small and regular 
windows. The only ornament about it is the door- 
way, just in the center of the front. That doorway 
is always beautiful, in a quiet, dignified way. There 
is generally a fan-shaped window over the big door, 
and a huge brass knocker, which serves the purpose 
of a bell. Roses climb over the two pillars that 



Plan of My House 127 

mark the doorway, and a lantern light hangs from 
the ceiling. 

Then there is the Southern mansion type, the best 
example of which is Mount Vernon in Virginia, 
George Washington's home. That needs a great 
deal of ground. Note the huge pillars in front that 
go up two or three stories. See how hospitable and 
stately it looks. If you plan a house like that, you 
must make it large, with a wing on each side and a 
number of small work buildings and servants' quar- 
ters hovering at its back. You will also have to 
plan some very elaborate grounds. 

Of course, if you get to be a rich man or woman 
you may want an Italian villa in white stucco with 
a wonderful garden full of fountains and statuary; 
or an English country house, with its many-gabled 
roof and its trim hedges. You may even wish the 
Swiss chalet type, with its very sloping roof, planned 
for a mountain situation. There is also the Spanish, 
or Eastern type, of house, made of plaster and sur- 
rounding a courtyard with a fountain and palm trees. 
You can find pictures of these houses in books and 
magazines, and with a little practice you can plan 
even them into rooms. But whatever you plan in 
the way of a home, remember that to make the beau- 
tiful house entirely beautiful, you must see to it diat 
in it live kindly, clean, hospitable people, who know 
how to be happy and make others happy. That is 
the way to turn your house into a home. 



Health Habits 



Two words make up the key to our lesson — health 
and habits. The first is the name of one of the great- 
est treasures that we can have in life, and the second 
leads the way to it. Health is a treasure because it 
can bring happiness, contentment and success. Sick 
people are apt to be ill-tempered and down-hearted, 
because they are unable to do what other folks do. 
They are tired and nervous and weak. It is very 
sad and discouraging to be unlike other folks; some- 
times even when they try the sick cannot always be 
cheerful. And no wonder. The days are pretty 
dreary when we cannot work in the garden, tramp in 
the woods, go swimming, play games and enjoy all 
the good things that are intended for us. 

Now there is just one way to win this priceless 
treasure of health, and that is by practicing health 
habits. That word habit is an interesting one. We 
begin to form habits when we are babies, and we 
keep on all through life. The kind of habits we 
form has much to do with the kind of person we 
grow to be. If we are honest and brave and indus- 
trious to-day, and the next day and the next, we be- 
come honest and brave and industrious by habit, and 
in time of sudden temptation or when we must face 
a test, we will do the right thing because it is our 
nature to do so. "Thoughts dwelt on become deeds ; 
deeds repeated become habits; habits form charac- 
ter." 

When you first learned to skate, to play the piano, 
or to knit or crochet, you had to think of every mo- 
tion. Then after a few days of practice you began 
to do these things without thinking of each step of 
the work. The reason is that your mind and your 

128 



Health Habits 129 

muscles had formed habits — fixed habits, as we say — 
allowing you to do the things you had learned rapidly 
and easily. Walking, writing, reading, swimming — 
all the common acts of everyday life — are done 
through habit. 

Now habits of health can be formed just as easily 
as habits of everyday living. We should really be 
very thankful that God has given us this means of 
getting the great treasure of life. What is needed 
is a system, because most boys and girls have not 
thought of winning health in just this way. To help 
form good health habits it is a wise plan to make a 
list of the things that should be done, and watch and 
see that not one is overlooked. Do you not find it 
easier to do things when you check up and grade 
yourself? 

Here is copy for a Health Score Card, on which 
we can mark our record every day in the week. 
There are ten points for each item. The record for 
Sunday is filled in, to show how it is done. The 
artist was so sure that you would like to see how nice 
the card looks when you do everything just right that 
he marked all the items for Sunday perfect. Will 
you make them all perfect for every day, and for 
every week? 

Of course you will play fair, and if you brush 
your teeth only twice, mark off three and one-third 
points; and if you scold about taking a bath, you 
will know that you lose on both the first and last 
items. 

Bathing. I do not know where the idea came 
from, but some little folks think bathing is a punish- 
ment. Nothing is more fun than slipping down to 
the creek and going swimming. It is so much fun 
that if mother will not let the boys go, sometimes 
they go without asking! But those same boys cer- 
tainly object if they have to "take a bath" at home 
once a week! ^ I think that away back when people 



130 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

did not have warm rooms or a regular bath tub, and 
it was cold weather, boys must have had to dab at 
themselves with cold, wet cloths, and this may have 
been the beginning of their dislike of baths. Any- 
how, somewhere, somehow, boys have gotten the idea 
that they are abused if they have to take a bath! 
Let's all learn to like a bath. We have simply formed 
the habit of complaining about it. 

fVhy We Need a Bath. When we walk or work 
or think, we destroy nerv^e and muscle tissue. Small 
glands pick up this waste matter and pour it out on 
the surface of the skin. If the waste is not washed 
off, the openings or pores of the skin become clogged, 
and the waste matter piles up in the Dody, poisoning 
the circulation and making us liable to disease. That 
is not only an unhealthful condition — it is a filthy 
one, and really a dangerous one. 

Our hands collect dirt from the things we touch — 
clothes, pencils, books, chairs, playthings, door-knobs, 
stair-rails; even the inside of our gloves and mittens 
are lodging places for dirt. A fresh, clean skin is 
so much more pleasing than one soiled by the refuse 
left by perspiration and the dirt we pick up from 
the things we touch, that we would feel more com- 
fortable and safer if we bathed every day. Certainly 
we should have a full bath at least twice a week. 

For a cleansing bath we use warm water and a 
little mild soap. If the skin is sensitive and cracks 
or itches when soap is used, we may have two or three 
small bags of bran or oatmeal and use these in the 
water instead of soap. 

Points. Of course if we do not keep our feet per- 
fectly sweet, or if we forget to wash behind our ears, 
our score on the chart would be about five, because 
half-way measures aren't worth much. 

Brushing Teeth Three Times a Day. Our 
teeth are given us to eat with. They cut and grind 
our food so that the juices which aid digestion can 




Health Habits 131 

reach all parts of it. We need them for this work. 
Decayed teeth are useless; besides, they may ache 
and be very painful. The poisons from them may 
cause a long list of diseases, including stomach trou- 
ble, heart trouble and infected joints. Poor teeth 
must be pulled or filled, which may be very painful 
and expensive. 

The first, or baby, ^ ^ ^\ 
teeth precede the first 
permanent molar. It is 
iust as important to „ ^ ^ 

•' , \. . How Teeth Decay 

take care of the tem- 
porary teeth as it is of the permanent ones. The 
temporary set is all we have to chew with until 
the permanent teeth come. If we cannot chew our 
food well, what we eat cannot be well digested, and 
we shall not be well fed. Decayed first teeth may 
be quite as painful as decayed second teeth. Poisons 
due to decayed teeth may cause ill health in children 
and prevent them growing into strong, healthy men 
and women. 

Hard foods which require chewing and foods 
which furnish lime help make good teeth. Eating 
sweets is harmful to the teeth, because such a practice 
spoils the appetite and keeps us from eating enough 
of the nourishing foods. 

At three years of age a child should have all its 
temporary teeth and be taught to use a toothbrush. 
Perhaps you can help little brother or sister to brush 
the teeth, if mother is busy. 

If a temporary tooth falls out before the perma- 
nent tooth which is to take its place is ready to push 
through, there is danger that some incoming tooth 
may crowd into a place where it does not belong. 
This causes irregular, unsightly teeth. If the upper 
teeth do not match the corresponding teeth below, 
one cannot chew well with them. The}'^ should come 
squarely together. Crooked, misshapen teeth are 



132 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

more difficult to keep clean and they may be very 
unsightly. 

If we have always taken good care of our teeth 
and continue to do so, and if we eat foods which con- 
tain enough lime to make teeth, we should be able to 
keep our teeth in fairly good condition as long as 
we live. 

Sometimes people say that the third molars, or 
wisdom teeth, do not last long. That is because they 
are back so far that it is difficult to clean them well. 
Wisdom teeth should continue to be as good as other 
teeth, if we take as good care of them. 

When our own teeth can no longer serve us, den- 
tists may make artificial teeth for us. These may be 
so perfectly made that one looking at them may not 
know that they are not natural. But the person 
wearing them can tell. Artificial teeth do not cut 
and chew as well as natural teeth. With artificial 
teeth it is difficult to eat such foods as radishes, celery, 
hard fruits and nuts. Artificial teeth break easily, 
and they are hard to keep clean. Because our own 
teeth are so much more satisfactory, we want to take 
good care of them. In order to preserve them, we 
must keep them clean. 

Bits of foods catch between the teeth and in the 
edges of the gums. The warm, moist air in the 
mouth causes these particles to decay. Germs grow- 
ing and decaying produce acids which eat the enamel 
of the teeth. When the enamel is cracked, the body 
of the tooth soon decays. Clean teeth do not decay. 

Just back of the lower front teeth, and on the 
outer side of the upper molars where the crown of 
the tooth meets the gum, are the openings of the sali- 
vary glands. These glands pour into the mouth a 
digestive fluid. The lime from the saliva may col- 
lect at these points, forming tartar. Tartar is much 
like the substance the teeth are made of. It does not 
injure the teeth, but it does form a lodging place for 



Health Habits 



133 



germs which may do damage. For that reason, these 
points need special attention. If we cannot keep the 
tartar from forming, a dentist should remove it occa- 
sionally. Brush the teeth with a good, medium-stiff 
brush, and use warm water and some sort of dental 
cream or powder. Most tooth powders are good; 
use the one you like best. 

In cleaning the teeth we should brush from the 
gums toward their cutting edges — up from the lower 
gum and down from the 
upper gum. Brush with 
a slightly rotary motion, 
scouring the teeth clean on 
both the inner and outer 
surfaces. Be careful to 
dislodge particles from all 
the rough, uneven places, 
such as the uneven grind- 
ing surfaces of the molars, 
the valleys of the double 
teeth, and any grooves and 

pits which may be worn in ,^ ^^ „ „ „ 

^. ^ A ,- 1 1 You May Have Beautiful Teeth 

the surface. After brush- 
ing the teeth, rinse the mouth with clear water or 
water containing lime, milk of magnesia or some 
other simple sweetener. 

Every time we eat there are particles to be re- 
moved, so we should brush the teeth after each meal. 
Germs grow more rapidly while the mouth is kept 
closed during the night, so the teeth should always 
be cleaned in the evening before we go to bed. No 
matter how carefully we clean them, there will al- 
ways be some matter left in the mouth, so that it is 
desirable to brush the teeth on rising. 

If we do not have a brush, we may use a piece 
of clean gauze wrapped about the finger. For par- 
ticles which cannot be removed in the ordinary way, 
use a hardwood toothpick or a piece of dental floss. 




134 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

It is considered ill-mannered to pick the teeth in 
public. They should be attended to in private. 

Points. Brushing three times a day does not count 
ten points unless the teeth are scoured clean, nor un- 
less one time is just before retiring. 

Cleaning the Nails. Finger-nails are very 
useful and, if well-kept, add much to the beauty of 
the hand. Broken, dirty, misshapen nails are untidy 
and may carry infection. 

Keep the hands clean by washing them with warm 
water and a good quality of soap. Scrub the nails 
with a brush. At least once a day, while the hands 
are still moist, use an orangewood stick to remove 
the dirt from under the tips and about the base of 
the nails. With the blunt end of the stick push the 
skin away from the base of the nails. 

Nails protect the ends of the fingers, and help us 
to pick up articles. They should be long enough to 
be of service, but if they are allowed to grow too long 
they are apt to become broken or torn, and so be less 
useful as well as unsightly and painful. Once a week 
file them with a nail file, rounding them neatly, to 
follow the outline of the end of the finger. Do not 
file so close as to make the flesh raw. 

Points. The ten points are given for Cleanli- 
ness, Usableness and Appearance. 

Washing Hands Before Meals. Wash the 
hands the last thing before eating, so that you will 
not be likely to introduce filth or disease germs into 
the mouth with your food. Remember that many 
times a day you touch dirty things. To make hands 
clean enough for meal-time they must be scrubbed 
with warm water and soap ; it is not enough just to 
rinse them in cold water. 

Points. We should not count points to our credit 
for merely a dash at the wash-basin and a quick wipe 
on the towel. No points should be credited unless 
the hands are clean. 



Health Habits 135 

Exercise in Fresh Air. The children pictured 
on the chart are having a good time. The crisp air, 
the fun of making snowmen and coasting, and the 
pleasure of playing together make a good game. So- 
cial games — games which call for a group and keep 
us a-tingle with friendly rivalry — form an important 
part of our health work and education. 

Muscles which are not used become flabby and 
useless. When we exercise, old cells are torn down 
and must be replaced by new ones. New cells give 
new life. The building material for the new cells 
is carried by the oxygen of the blood. The more 
swiftly the blood flows, the more material it can 
carry; that is why exercise is good; if we exercise 
in the open air, there will be more oxygen at our 
command than there could be in the best-ventilated 
room. That is why working in the fields and gardens 
is more healthful than working in the house or ofiice. 
It is why children in open-air schoolrooms usually 
learn more readily than they do in closed rooms. If 
it is not possible to take our exercise out-of-doors, the 
next best thing is to take it in a room with wide-open 
windows. 

Points. You know when you are entitled to marks 
for vigorous exercise that stirs your blood and leaves 
you feeling happily tired and still all fresh and new. 

Deep Breathing and Good Posture. The 
lungs extend from the highest point of the shoulder 
nearly to the waist-line, and fill the chest cavity ex- 
cept for the space occupied by the heart. The lung 
cells exchange the impurities in the blood for oxygen, 
which is contained in the air. Long, full breaths 
should be taken, to draw the greatest possible amount 
of air into the lungs, so that it reaches the farthest 
cells. Stooping crowds the lungs and closes some of 
the cells so that there is not enough room for air. 
That is why we link correct posture with deep 
breathing. 



136 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Round shoulders and thin, narrow chests indicate 
malnutrition. Malnutrition means that we are not 
getting enough of some kind of food. We may be 
eating heartily, but it may not be the right kind of 
food. People who stoop habitually need to give im- 
mediate attention to correcting their diet. We shall 
learn more about that when we study foods. 

Stooping crowds the lungs and makes less room 
for air. It causes the cartilages between the verte- 
brae which make up the backbone to lose their elas- 
ticity, and in time we find we are unable to stand 
erect. The muscles develop wrong habits. Braces 
are of no use. Work is good exercise; play is good 
exercise. We need them both. We also need sys- 
tematic corrective exercises to develop every part of 
the body and to correct faulty postures. 

Poor standing habits may be due to poor posture 
in sitting. Seats and chairs which are so high that 
the feet do not touch the floor, desks too high or too 
low, cause us to bend forward or to sit with one shoul- 
der higher than the other. Never slump down in 
the seat. Sit erect, with feet firmly on the floor, back 
straight, head erect. Stand erect, with the feet a 
trifle apart, toes pointing straight forward, the arms 
hanging naturally at the sides. Hold the head erect, 
chin up, eyes straight forward, chest up. 

Practice deep breathing morning and evening. 
Stand in good position; hands on hips; inhale and 
exhale ten times. The practice should cause notice- 
able improvement within a week. 

Points. The points are for the practice described 
above and for permanently correcting any bad stand- 
ing, sitting or breathing habits we have. 

Eating Properly. Because our frame of mind 
has an influence on the flow of the digestive juices, 
what were once simply social customs are now recog- 
nized as good hygiene. Eating is both a social act 
and a means of supplying new energy to our bodies. 



Health Habits 137 

We like always to appear at the dining table 
clean, neat and in good humor. Worry, anger and 
fatigue cause poor digestion. Hands and face clean, 
hair well-brushed, and clothing neat and orderly 
give us self-respect, and self-respect means self-pos- 
session. Observe common customs and manners; by 
doing so we attract less attention and feel more com- 
fortable. Some of the common rules as to manners 
are: 

Cut or break the food into small pieces. Do not 
bite from a large slice of bread or piece of meat. 
Chew the food thoroughly, so that it will be ground 
fine, then the digestive juices can act on it more 
readily. If our food is well-chewed we shall avoid 
the appearance of gulping it. Do not chew with 
the mouth open. Do not talk while chewing. Do 
not devote all your energy to your food, but give 
some attention to your neighbors at the table. Learn 
to handle the silver properly. Do not use the knife 
to carry food to the mouth. 

Some good food habits are the following: Drink 
a glass of water on rising. Drink at least four glasses 
of water during the day. Drink a pint of milk each 
day. If you are underweight for your height, drink 
a quart of milk a day. Eat some fruit and vegetables 
each day. Do not eat sweets between meals. Never 
drink tea or coffee. Do not drink "soft" drinks con- 
taining drugs. 

Study the classes of food and learn to balance 
your meals by eating some of each class. Find out 
about the A, B, C foods, and see that you have some of 
each each day. Never forget that milk is the one best 
food for growing children. Milk supplies building 
material for the bones, teeth and muscles. It keeps 
the heart beating regularly, strengthens the nerves 
and contains a growing principle that helps weak 
bodies to grow into strong ones. No other single 



138 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

article of food contains so many of the various ma- 
terials especially needed by children. 

Points. The points of credit are for following 
the rules about milk, water, vegetables and fruits, for 
chewing the food well, avoiding constipation, and 
for keeping up to the standard weight for your height. 

Foods. The statements in this section are pri- 
marily intended to be helpful to mothers. We need 
food for three purposes : ( 1 ) Our bodies use energy 
to, do their work and to keep us warm. So we need 
fuel foods, just as an automobile needs gasoline. 
(2) When we work we wear out parts of the body. 
The cells must be replaced by new ones, so we need 
building foods, to make repairs and additions. (3) 
We need regulative foods, to keep every part of the 
body in condition to work properly. These corre- 
spond to the oils we use on machines to keep them 
working smoothly and to prevent unnecessary wear 

Fuel is supplied 
mostly by carbohy- 
drates, fats and pro- 
teins. Carbohydrates 
is a big word which we 
use to mean two forms 
^ _ „„ , . of foods whose com- 

fAT:O.I Xfyji^ggag protein: Z.Z , 

^»r.«„ mon names are starches 

MiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiNi/ CARBO- 

ASH: 1.0 >l|iPF'HYDRATE5:i8.4 and sugars. We get 

Potatoes are Rich in Starch and starch in the Cereals, 

Sugar l j ^ i 

breads, starchy vege- 
tables such as potatoes, beets and carrots, starchy 
fruits like apples, and in corn, beans, peas and lentils. 
Sugar is found in cane and beet sugars, honey, syrups, 
fruits, vegetables, and in manufactured foods like 
cake, cookies, jams, jellies and other desserts. 

Fats are found in butter, cream, cheese, whole 
milk, eggs, bacon, fat meat, vegetable fats and oils 
and nuts. 




Health Habits 139 

Proteins furnish some fuel, but they are most 
valuable for building material, so we will list them 
with those foods. 

The building materials are protein and the min- 
erals — chiefly lime, iron and phosphates. There are 
two kinds of proteins, namely, animal and vegetable. 
Animal protein is found in milk, cheese, eggs, fish 
and meat; vegetable proteins in peas, beans, nuts 
and grains. The protein found in vegetables is not 
just the same as the animal protein. We need both 
kinds. The animal protein from milk, butter, cheese 
and eggs is better than meat for children. 

The minerals are very important and necessary, 
but we use only a small quantity of them. Lime is 
found most abundantly in milk; this is why milk is 
such a valuable food. Cheese, eggs and leafy vege- 
tables like lettuce, spinach, cabbage, onions and cel- 
ery are also valuable. Children especially need 
lime to form good teeth and strong bones. Iron oc- 
curs in beets, prunes, green vegetables, eggs, fruits, 
cereals, grains and meats. Phosphorus is found in 
cereals (breakfast foods and breads), peas, beans and 
lentils, milk, eggs and meat. We use such small 
quantities of the minerals that if we eat something 
of all the kinds of food we should eat we shall get 
enough minerals without paying any attention to the 
matter. 

Regulative foods correspond to what is called 
roughage when we speak of feeds for animals. They 
contain a large percentage of undigestible matter — 
the fibrous part of the leaves, fruits and vegetables, 
and the husks of the grain. These act mechanically 
to stimulate the intestinal muscles and help in the 
elimination of waste products. Some of the fruits, 
such as figs, dates, prunes and raisins are especially 
laxative. 

Notice in the drawings that most of the foods con- 
tain some of several of the different elements, as 



140 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

starch, sugar, fat, protein and mineral. (The ash is 
mineral. We list them in the class of which they fur- 
nish the most, or for which they are the most valuable. 
Foods are classified in another way. Only re- 
cently we learned about the vitamines. No one 
knows yet all about vitamines, but all agree that they 
are very necessary. They help us grow and keep us 
well. So far scientists have named three kinds. 
When they were experimenting, they named them A, 
B and C, and as no one has given them any other 
names, we still call them by those. 

A (sometimes called 
fat-soluble A, because 
it is soluble in fat) is 
found especially in 
milk. When we say 
milk, we mean whole 
milk. That is another 
reason why milk is such 
SiTE5T5.o^^^^3r:^AJH:a? a valuable food. This 

Food Value of Milk Vltamme IS also found 

in the fat products from 
milk — cream, cheese and butter — the yolks of eggs 
and in green leaves — lettuce, spinach, and other 
greens, and cabbage. That is one reason why greens 
are such good food. It is not in skim milk, so we do 
not find it in cottage cheese. We must not give all the 
cream to the grown-ups because "children like milk 
just as well." Children especially need vitamine A, 
and it is not in skim-milk. It is not in the substitute 
butters, so if we use these we must use a great deal of 
whole milk and cream and leaf vegetables. 

B (called water-soluble B, because it can be dis- 
solved in water) is found in eggs and practically all 
of the common vegetables and in the seeds of cereals. 
Lack of B in the diet causes a wasting disease called 
beri-beri. 





Health Habits 141 

C (the full name is water-soluble C) is anti-scor- 
butic, which means that it prevents scurvy. Vita- 
mine C is very necessary, and as the foods in which 
it is found are very palatable most of us will eat 
plenty of them. C is abundant in the citrus fruits — 
in oranges, lemons and grapefruit, in tomatoes and 
in cabbage. During the World War we learned 
that the tomato is a very valuable food, and very re- 
freshing as an orange. C is found in most of the 
other fruits, and in potatoes, onions, carrots and some 
of the other vegetables. 

For a time it was 
thought that cooking 
foods destroyed the 
vitamines, but now 
scientists believe that 
foods which are cov- fwco.s-^ 
ered while cooking re- ash:o.5 — "^ililllllllliiillliiii'^HYDRATK:i4.z 
tain their vitamines. contents of an Apple 

This may be one reason 

why foods cooked in a fireless cooker and canned 
foods cooked in the jars have such a fine flavor. 

Planning Our Meals. We need some of all 
the foods named above every day. If v^e had to 
weigh out and measure everything we eat, it would 
be very troublesome, so we are glad to know that 
most foods contain more than one element. 

If we drink plenty of milk, avoid the things we 
know to be harmful, plan our meals, select our food 
with just a thought to eating some cereals, some eggs, 
cheese, meat, beans, peas or nuts, and some fruits and 
vegetables our taste will be likely to insure that we do 
not lack any needed food element. 

If we eat for breakfast some fruit, a cereal with 
cream, a slice of toast or other bread, and drink a 
glass of whole milk, we shall start the day right. 
Sometimes we get the mistaken notion that we do not 
need anything to eat early in the morning. But we 




PROTEIN: 14 A 



142 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

cannot do as good work — we cannot think nor play 
nor study so well — without breakfast as we can if we 
eat something. Besides, if we skip one meal we are 
likely not to get enough food in the course of the day. 
By studying a number of cases, we find that it 
means better health and better work if we have at 
least one hot dish at lunch-time. Something warm 

stimulates digestion of 

WATER:75.7 ^^^ ^^^^ our Other food and 

gives us more energy. 
A soup, cooked vege- 
table, milk toast and 
cocoa are easily pre- 
pared and do not re- 
quire much equip- 
ment; so any school 
fAT-ws ^,^,^ n-rmn which wishes to can 

What We Find in Eggs Serve Something hot. 

Both the work and the 
children's health will improve because of the hot dish. 

Usually we eat our most substantial meal at noon 
or night. Then we may have a cooked vegetable, a 
salad, a dessert, potatoes, and a small amount of meat 
or a meat substitute. 

We may like to know that sugar goes directly 
from the stomach into the circulation and so relieves 
hunger quickly. If we eat sweets before a meal, we 
are not hungry, and so do not eat the foods we should 
have. Sweets should be eaten only at the close of a 
meal. Fats are digested the most slowly, and so keep 
us from getting hungry soon after eating. 

Liquids. In order that our food may move easily 
through the intestines, we need plenty of liquid. At 
least four glasses of water, in addition to the liquids 
we get in our food, is not too much. We may drink 
it with our meals or between meals, just as we like. 

The stomach and intestines need rinsing out in 
the morning, the same as our mouth does. A glass 



Health Habits 143 

of water after we have cleaned our teeth on rising is 
a good way to start the day. Water contains min- 
erals, in varying degree. 

Of course we all know that children should drink 
neither tea nor coffee. They have no food value, 
and contain harmful drugs. Milk and fruit juices 
are delicious drinks, and are good foods. Some f-ruit 
flavors sold at soda fountains may be adulterated with 
drugs; in that case, they may be unhealthful and be- 
come habit-forming. 

The drawings appearing in this section show some 
valuable foods, in diagrams, which will be easy to 
understand. 

Whole Milk. A large part of milk is water, 
but it is still high in food value. Notice the heavy 
white band near the bottom; this represents the fat 
it contains. This fat holds the valuable "fat-soluble 
A" vitamine. The diagonal lines show protein, and 
the vertical lines carbohydrates, mostly milk sugar. 
The small quantity of ash contains a large proportion 
of lime and a small quantity of iron. 

Butter. Butter is 
largely fat — the kind 
of fat that contains 
vitamine A. There is 
some protein, the same 
minerals we find in 
whole milk, and water- watermi.o ^ protein: i.<J^' 

soluble B. ^^"'^'^ '^ ^ ^"^"^^'^ 

Eggs. Did you know there is so much water to 
an tgg} No wonder mother thinks it is important 
for the chickens to have plenty of water. Of course 
they cannot lay if we neglect to give them water to 
use in producing the eggs. The eggs contain water- 
soluble B ; the fat yields fat-soluble A, and the ash 
has lime in it; so we can understand why eggs are 
such good food. 

Lettuce, Lettuce is an example of the leaf vege- 




144 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 




PROTBK: 1.2 

CARBO- 
HYDRATES: 2.9 



How Lettuce Ranks as Food 



tables. There is a great deal of water in all of them 
"and only a small amount of fat, but it carries fat- 
soluble A. B is found in small quantity, and the 
ash is part lime and water: 
part iron, two valuable ^^'^ 
mineral foods. 

Apples. Apples 
contain considerable 
water and small quan- 
tities of fat and protein. 
The ash is partly lime, rAT:o.3- 

BJ r-> J ASH:0.9- 

and C are present, 

and the carbohydrates 

mean considerable 

starch and sugar. In energy value, an apple is equal 

to a slice of bread. As in most hard fruits and in 

potatoes, the best flavor and the highest food value 

are just under the skin. 

Potato. Potatoes are very good food. They 
contain a large quantity of C, valuable minerals, in- 
cluding lime and iron, quite a bit of protein, some 
fat, starch and sugar. 

Oatmeal. This is our standard breakfast cereal. 
It contains considerable starch and protein, some fat 
and valuable minerals; because of the rough, indi- 
gestible hull, it is a good regulative food. 

Sleeplxg Nine Hours with the Windows 
Open. Our bodies, like other machines, must have 
plenty of time to rest. Sleep is the human machine's 

rest. Occasionally we 
find someone who keeps 
well and does good 
work with less than 
eight hours of sleep, 
but those people are 
exceptions. Because 
they are exercising vig- 
orously, and growing 



WATER: 64.5 




PROTEIN: 2.8 



FAT: 0.5 



ASH:0.7 



In a Dish of Oatmeal 



Health Habits 145 

as well as repairing their bodies, children need more 
sleep than their parents need. They should have nine 
to ten hours. If we do not sleep, we should lie 
quietly, with the eyes closed. This is restful, and 
lying quietly will help to establish the sleep habit 
at that hour. 

It is never safe to rob ourselves of sleep. People 
who do not sleep enough soon begin to lose weight; 
they tire easily; their digestion is poor; they become 
ners^ous and' irritable and readily succumb to attacks 
of disease germs. Tuberculosis is a common result 
of loss of sleep and under-feeding. If the body is 
in good condition, and resistance high, we overcome 
germs; if we are underfed, overtired and generally 
careless of our health, some of the germs will get the 
better of our army of disease fighters, the white cor- 
puscles of the blood. 

It would be foolish for us to expect to rebuild our 
strength while breathing foul air. The sash in the 
windows of the sleeping room should be down from 
the top and up from the bottom, so as to let in the 
greatest possible amount of air, and give free circu- 
lation. 

Points. Points are for remaining in bed nine 
hours, with the windows wide open. 

Doing a Kind Act. Be kind. Be helpful. It 
is as easy to help people as it is to hinder them. It is 
more pleasant to be kind than it is to be cross — more 
pleasant for us and for others. We owe it to the peo- 
ple we meet to be courteous, cheerful, helpful, and 
so to do our share to make this a good world to live 
in. Sometimes a kind word or a cheery smile does 
"more than giving money or doing some big thing. 
Try to make those about you comfortable and happy. 
If they are discouraged, give them courage; if they 
are lonely, work or play with them; if they are sad, 
cheer them up. Your character grows in time to 
reflect your impulses. 

10 



146 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Points. You will know when to credit yourself 
ten for kindness. Do not become priggish and con- 
ceited while keeping this score. Give yourself no 
points if you make any person unhappy or treat any 
animal harshly. 

Keeping Cheerful. It is as easy to be cheerful 
as it is to be gloomy. Never waste any time feeling 
sorry for yourself. Never worry about anything. 
If you can help it, do so; if you can't, worry will 
not help matters. 

Cheerfulness means better health. It is really 
true that feeling follows its physical expression. If 
you sing happy songs and smile, you will begin to 
feel happy. If you smile at people, they will smile 
back at you. Think about all the good and pleasant 
things there are in the world, and smile. 

Points. No points are to be credited if you scowl, 
or sulk, or scold. 

Every thought we think, every thing we do, is a 
part of our building. We are just the sum of what 
we think and do. We can make ourselves good citi- 
zens or bad ; we can be happy or dismal ; we can be 
worth-while or no-account; we can be the sort of 
persons that people are glad to see, or the sort from 
whom everyone runs. 

Let us keep ourselves clean, healthy, cheerful, 
happy, worth-while girls and boys, and so grow into 
good citizens of our glorious country. 

The Filthy Fly. The accompanying pictures 
show the way flies and fly eggs look in all their stages ; 
we may therefore know them whenever we see them. 
Fly eggs or maggots or pupa will develop into flies 
unless they are destroyed. Never leave them to 
hatch, for they spread disease. 

Notice the group of small white objects and also 
the larger one, which has been magnified to show it 
more distinctly. A fly lays about 120 eggs at a time, 
and repeats this four to six times during her life. 



Health Habits 



147 




Think how many flies may come from the one fly that 
you let get away in the early spring! Do not let any 
get away. Kill the first ones, and keep the home 
clean, so there will be no more. 

At the end of about ^ c nr a fiv 

twenty-four hours, fly ^"^^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^ ^^ 
eggs hatch into mag- 
gots. Notice the draw- 
ing in the second sec- 
tion. You have seen 
crawly, wriggly mag- 
gots on manure heaps, 
on decaying meat and 
wherever filth is left 
long undisturbed. If 
you find a heap of 
maggots, do not go 
away and leave them. 
Pour boiling water over them and kill them. 

At the end of five days, maggots develop into 
pupae, like the wrinkled case you see in the lower 
left-hand part of the circle. After five more days, 
the fly, which has been growing inside the case, be- 
comes so large that it breaks the case and pushes its 
way out. Fourteen days later the females lay more 
eggs to produce more flies. 

The history of the fly is not a pretty story. It is 
disagreeable, and we would rather not talk about it. 
But the more we learn about it, the less we shall want 
to live with it, and the sooner we shall find some 
way to get rid of flies. There should be no room in 
the same home or in the same town for flies and 
people. 

One of the pictures shows why a fly is so disgust- 
ing an insect, and why it is so dangerous. It is be- 
cause it is hatched in filth, lives in filth, and carries 
filth wherever it goes. Ninety per cent of the flies 
are hatched out in manure heaps. Manure fur- 



148 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



nishes food for the maggots which hatch from the 
eggs, and for the young fly. 

Flies like clean food, too. When one gets the 
odor that tells it we are baking a cake in the kitchen, 
it leaves the manure heap and comes to taste the cake. 
When a fly lights on our cake we do not know where 
it came from, but we may be certain that it came 
from some dirty place. Cuspidors, garbage pails 
and outhouses are their favorite feeding places. 
They may come from any of these direct to us. 

The poor baby is quite helpless when a fly comes 
his way. In the first place, he does not know that 
a fly is dangerous, and so does not know enough to 
. . , ... try to get away ; in the 

,.al> ,rv-. • ___/ second place, the baby 
m^ is helpless. He cannot 
run ; he is too little. 
The dirty fly which 
was sitting on the gar- 
bage heap may come to 
sit on the baby's nose, 
or his hand, or on the 
nipple of the milk bot- 
tle. We should never 
let a fly come near the 
baby, or the baby's 
food, or his playthings, 
or anything which be- 
longs to the baby. 
Are there any uncovered garbage pails in your 
back yard, in the alley, or anywhere near your house? 
They are breeding places for flies. If they cannot 
be protected from flies, sprinkle them with borax, 
then spray them with water. This will kill the fly 
eggs. Health officers should be told about any filthy 
places which you cannot dispose of. 
• Flies are more dangerous than tigers or rattle- 




ROUTES OF THE FiLTHY FlY 



Health Habits 



149 



snakes. The doctor who knows the most about flics 
says that a fly is the most dangerous living thing 
known. 

Have you seen people at dinner in a place where 
there were so many flies that it was necessary con- 
tinually to fan them away while eating? That isn't 
simply disagreeable and dirty; it is dangerous! 
Think of the places those flies may have frequented 
before they invited themselves to eat with you! 

A fly's whole body is covered with hairs. The 
hairs pick up particles of filth, and these may be left 
wherever the fly sits. 

The charts show DEATHS FROM TYPHOID 
some of the mischief 
done by the fly. He 
spreads two very dan- 
gerous diseases — ty- 
phoid fever and what 
is commonly called 
"summer complaint." 
It isn't summer com- 
plaint only; it is as 
truly fly complaint. 

Notice how many 
more deaths there are from typhoid fever and other 
intestinal diseases during the months when flies are 
most numerous. 

"A fly is more disgraceful and dangerous than a 
bedbug." A bedbug is not disgraceful. Because 
you find one about the house it does not necessarily 
mean that you are not clean. A bedbug lives in clean 
places — clean beds, old magazines, behind the wall- 
paper. He doesn't go looking for manure heaps 
and outhouses. Flies mean that there is dirt some- 
where near, because flies hunt dirty places in which 
to lay their eggs. 

A bedbug isn't dangerous. He doesn't go run- 
ning from one place to another carrying disease with 



KANSAS TEST 1912- 


3 






JAN TLB, MAR APR MAY 


FLY SEASON 
JUIJ JUL AUG SEP OCT 


NOV DEC 
















62 

1 


53 

1 


44 


















33 
i 


1 


1 


1 


38 

i 


27 


15 

i 


20 

i 


13 


10 


12 


17 

i 


i 


1 


1 


1 


i 


1 



150 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



DEATHS FROM INTESTINAL DISEASES 
GREATEST IN FLY SEASON 



him. He doesn't go anywhere. We wish he would. 
But he stays right where he is. The fly is danger- 
ous. He carries disease. 

You would not think of eating a slice of bread 
over which a bedbug had walked, but you eat bread 
that the flies have crawled over. And one fly may 
carry 6,000,000 germs on its body! 

Keep flies away from milk. They may leave ty- 
phoid fever germs in 
FLIES KILL CHILDREN it. Never buy fruit or 

vegetables, or bread, or 
meat, or cookies, or 
candy in a place which 
harbors flies. If we do 
not buy from dirty 
storekeepers and dairy- 
men, they will have to 
clean up or go out of 
business. 

In the country live 
stock brings flies. We 
have all to work to- 
gether. Let everybody 
agree to keep clean, to 
sprinkle filth with bo- 
rax, to use traps, fly 
swatters and poison, and keep everlastingly at it. 

The Paper Drinking Cup. Many disease 
germs live in the mucous lining of the mouth and are 
carried from one person to another by means of a 
common drinking cup. Diphtheria, scarlet fever, 
pneumonia, tuberculosis, sore throat and common 
colds are spread in this way. Paper cups arc easily 
made, and may be burned after using. 

Take a clean square of paper (A). (Do you 
know how to square paper by folding it diagonally 
and tearing off the extra length?) Lay it on the 
desk so that one corner points toward you. Take 




Health Habits 



151 



hold of the comer nearest you ( 1 ) , fold it up to meet 
the upper corner (3), and crease and fold from 2 
to 4, making the triangle B. 

Now take corner 2 and fold it up to meet the 
diagonal line from 1 to 4. Fold it so that the line 
5 to 2 is a horizontal line. Crease the fold from 5 
to 6. See Figure C. 

Turn the paper over 
and fold corner 4 to 
meet the upper right- 
hand corner (5), keep- 
ing the top line hori- 
zontal as we did in 
folding 5 to 2 and 
forming a similar tri- 
angle. Turn the paper 
over and it should look 
like Fig. D. 

We can take point 1 and fold it down over 5-2-6 
and fold point 3 down on the other side, but the folds 
do not stay in place. 

In order to hold the folds, we place the fore-finger 
at corner 5 and the thumb midway on the fold 6-2, 
and press so as to make an open pocket of 5-2-6. 
Fold point 1 smoothly down into this pocket and 
crease across the top edge. Turn the paper over 
and fold corner 3 down into the pocket on that side. 
Now our paper looks like the figure showing the 
completed cup. Press it open and you will see that 
you have a good cup. 




How TO Make a Drinking Cup 



Thrift 



The new verse on the chart panel about the old 
woman who lived in the shoe tells us that she was a 
wise woman. She says, "I'll start right away to teach 
them to save." I suspect that such an energetic lot 
of girls and boys as they were already knew how to 
earn. These boys and girls and their mother prob- 
ably never head of canning clubs, corn clubs, garden 
clubs and other plans for making money and keeping 
busy at something useful, but they must have known 
of other interesting things, for the bright-eyed boy or 
girl never yet lacked the chance to earn money. 

We are going to write about something which is 
very important both to boys and girls — to boys first, 
because they must meet the world face to face when 
they grow up and must struggle for themselves and 
for others; and to girls next, for upon them will fall 
duties just as important, in helping in homes of their 
own sometime in the future to set a proper example 
of saving, in order to become independent. 

Our subject is one of the most important in all the 
world. Robert Burns, the beloved Scotch poet, 
really told our whole story when he wrote — 

To catch Dame Fortune's golden smile, 

Assiduous wait upon her ; 
And gather gear (gold) by every wile 

That's justify'd by honor. 

Not for to hide it in a hedge, 

Nor for a train-attendant; 
But for the glorious privilege 

Of being independent. 

The feeling of independence — being able to take 
care of ourselves physically and financially — is per- 



Thrift 153 

haps the most satisfying feeling in the world. None 
of us wants to be dependent on others for the bread 
we eat, for the clothes we wear or for the place in 
which we live. Of course ive do not expect ever to 
be fed and clothed by others. But look at the chart 
and see how many people are. Look about you at 
the people you know who are dependent on others. 
It may not be their fault. Perhaps they have been 
sick; perhaps they used their money in caring for 
others; perhaps lost it in some way for which they 
were not to blame. 

At the bottom of a great deal of our success in 
living in the way we should live is money, rightly 
used. And what is money? We cannot explain here 
why it always has value which seldom varies or why 
everybody knows a dollar bill will always buy a 
dollar's worth of whatever you may want. You will 
learn all about this some day in your high school or 
college studies. Just now we wish to show you that 
almost the greatest duty you owe to yourself is to 
know something of the right use of money. Nearly 
all people refuse or neglect to learn this lesson, for 
only one man in twenty leaves enough behind him at 
death to pay the undertaker. It would be sad if some 
day you found yourself among the unfortunate ones. 

Society ought to be organized so that no one who 
is industrious, honest and frugal, should come to 
want. But as yet it isn't and there are a great many 
people who are all the time under obligations to 
others. Even if folks are kind and generous and glad 
to help us, we are happier and more self-respecting 
when we pay our own way. If we should be among 
those who become dependent at fifty or fifty-five years 
of age and should live twenty years or more after that, 
we would be very unhappy at times. 

It isn't a pleasant prospect, is it? Now is the 
time to provide against such a situation. We must 
lay by something now that we can depend upon to 



154 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



support us when ill-health, age or changed labor 
conditions make it impossible for us to earn enough 
to support ourselves. It does not seem as though 
things could happen to us, but they do happen to 



N^very thing to 


This spaQe represents man's saving 




—^ 


N^ain.noth- 


period, age 30 to 50. Within these 






Njng to 


limits either successor failure is 






N^ose 


almost always determined. 






rty^ \ 1 TEW DAYS OF GRACE ALLOWED 
Z\J is the 30^ 






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the son thinks 


He 15 now" 


NOW OR NEVER: 
THE DANGER LINE 






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his father. 


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V. NOT MUCH CHANCE 






cludes 


that life 


X TO CATCH UP ON 




AGE OF 
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would 

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15 a 
reality, 
and that 


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Soon afterV 


PPORTUNITIES 







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he is not 


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16% are dead. 


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ent, wholly or 


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of the men N. 






33 


anything and 


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dependent on children^ 
relatives or charity. 


^ 



A DiAGR-AM That Tells a Serious Story 

Others, and we may be no exception; emergencies do 
come, and we must be ready for them. 

Money can be one of the most useless things in 
the world, for it is good for nothing unless it can be 
used to provide what we need to live properly. A 
man who is alone on an island in the sea, no matter if 
he possessed a great chest of gold coins, would be poor 
indeed. He could not use his wealth for any pur- 
pose; he could not eat it, he could buy nothing with 
it; it would not clothe him or gain him shelter from 
storm or cold. 

So he could not consider his money as wealth; if 
he were never rescued his gold would mean no more 



Thrift 155 

to him than the rocks on the shore of his island home. 

In our case, as in his, living as we do among rela- 
tives and friends and with every comfort at hand, 
money is good only for what it will buy for us. But 
just because we get ten dollars or a hundred dollars 
we have no right to rush out at once and spend it all, 
even though there are many things we would like to 
buy. Some day we shall have still greater needs, and 
perhaps then not have the money to satisfy them. 

Almost anybody can earn money. It is a harder 
thing to take care of it after it is earned; it requires 
brains, patience, determination, to lay aside a certain 
portion of earnings for present needs and another 
portion to be kept for future necessities, not to be 
wasted now on things which are not necessary to our 
comfort. 

A spendthrift has friends only when he is spend- 
ing his money; they forsake him when his money is 
gone. He then sees that squandering anything is 
vulgar, and that those who waste come to want. 

So long as we live there will never come a time 
when we will not need money. We can earn money 
by using our muscle or brain powerto do things people 
need done, or by originating some better way of doing 
something, or by making discoveries of something 
worth while. But there are times when no one wants 
to pay for having work done ; then the man who earns 
money by using his muscle or his brain must have 
something laid by to live on until there is work to be 
done. Be as careful as we may, most of us are ill 
some time. Teeth need to be fixed, eyes need glasses, 
doctors and hospitals and medicines cost money. It 
seems as though we need money more than we need 
almost anything else. 

Don't let us make a mistake about this. We have 
proved that money of itself is of no use whatever; 
it is valuable only as it will provide us with what we 
need. We do not want to become miserly and save 



156 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

money just to have it; it will do us no good then. We 
save wisely so that we may have money to spend 
wisely. 

A great man once wrote to his son, "Earn a little ; 
spend less." It was his idea that one does not need a 
great deal of money if he takes care of what he has. 
That is the real basis of thrift. It is very true, too, 
that if one is thrifty in money matters he is quite sure 
to be thrifty and sensible in other directions. 

The greatest authority in the world — the Bible — 
preaches thrift. Do you remember that it says, "Go 
to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be 
wise." Ants are hard workers, as you will learn by 
observing them, and they allow no shirkers in their 
colonies. If an ant will not work, his fellows destroy 
him. 

You are also familiar with the little verse begin- 

° ' "How doth the little busy bee, 

Improve each shining hour." 

The class of honey bees called workers are truly 
workers, and very busy ones, all of the time, gathering 
pollen from flowers and carrying it to the hive or 
nest to be converted into honey. If a worker bee lags 
on his job or gets into the habit of playing "hookey" 
his more industrious fellows have been known to 
sting him to death. 

We see from these two examples in the insect 
world that all created life is intended to be kept busy. 
The ant and the bee gather their food and store it 
against the time of year when no food is to be had. 
They do it through instinct. Good judgment should 
show human beings that they should be industrious 
and thrifty for the same reason. 

Now what is the real meaning of thrift, in its 
broadest sense? Thrift means making the best use 
of our time, health, energy, brains, as well as money, 
over the period of our life. It means looking farther 



Thrift 157 

than tomorrow — not spending foolishly now and com- 
ing to want later. None of us knows how long he 
is going to live, nor what future circumstances will 
be, but it is wise to plan, as life insurance companies 
do, on the "average expectancy," and then some, in 
addition, for emergencies. 

When we are young we need so many things — 
education, travel, good clothes, good times ; we should 
spend some of our time and thought and money in 
the service of others. To provide for all these and 
also to keep an eye on the future is a big undertaking. 
Few of us have the money or time to take advantage 
of all the things it would be good to do. We have to 
apportion (you know what that means) our money, 
time and energy to cover our needs as best we can. 
One of the most important things for which we need 
money is to put some of it away to use at a time when 
we need it more than we need it now. There is this 
about money: It can be put to work for you. If you 
lend it, it gathers interest while you sleep. It may 
rain, you may be ill, you may even go fishing — but 
money saved and put at interest keeps working all 
the time. 

Invest $5 every month at 4 per cent, and at the 
end of five years it will amount to $335. Suppose 
that at thirteen years of age, you begin to save $5 
each month. By the time you are eighteen and ready 
to go to college, you will have a nice sum for your 
education, and education is a wonderfully profitable 
investment. 

In twenty years, $5 a month will amount to 
$1,848.30. If mother and father put $5 in the bank 
every month for the baby, wouldn't that grow into a 
nice sum by the time the baby has grown and is 
twenty-one? 

Abraham Lincoln said, "Economy is one of the 
first and highest virtues. It begins with saving 
money." Notice that it begins with saving money. 



158 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

We must save some. But we must not stop with 
saving money. We must save other things. Time is 
one of them. 

There are twenty-four hours in a day. We can- 
not stretch that any. If we are to be well, able to do 
our work, bright, alert, and ready to take advantage 
of opportunities and perform our duties acceptably, 
we must sleep at least eight hours of the twenty-four. 
Those who need more sleep should plan to take more 
— nine or nine and a half hours, if needed. That 
leaves us sixteen hours to use. 

We cannot spend all our time at productive work 
or at school. There are things to do just to keep liv- 
ing — bathe, dress, comb our hair, keep our nails in 
good condition, put our room in order, mend our 
clothing, go to and from school or work, help other 
people, take some part in community affairs — church, 
social life, welfare movements, have some amuse- 
ment, take some regular physical exercise, and do 
some serious reading. Then we need some time to 
think — to look back over the day and forward into 
the future and plan our course of action. It almost 
seems as though we should find ourselves shorter of 
time than we are of money. 

With so many things to do, which will you do 
first? How much time will you give to it? What 
will you do next? Some folks are always complain- 
ing that they have not time enough to do things. 
Those people have just as much time as the rest of 
us. The trouble is that they do not systematize their 
work. Have a plan and work to it. It is remarkable 
the things which one can do, working little by little. 
"Tall oaks from little acorns grow." Even a small 
amount of time spent regularly every day will count 
up. Fifteen minutes a day given to corrective phys- 
ical exercises will keep you erect, your joints limber, 
help your circulation and respiration. Fifteen 
minutes a day for ten years amounts to 112 working 



Thrift 159 

days of eight hours each. Is it any wonder that you 
notice it in your physical condition? Perhaps you 
waste fifteen minutes a day. Think of the time you 
are wasting. One man wrote a great book in fifteen 
years by using fifteen minutes every morning before 
his family was out of bed. 

Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous advo- 
cates of thrift, was one of the best educated men of his 
time. Yet he never went to school. He was a poor 
boy and in those days there were no free schools. He 
learned all he knew by studying evenings and by 
observing what was going on around him. You will 
like to read Franklin's maxims— "Poor Richard's 
Sayings" they were called when he published them 
in Poor Richard's Almanac. Franklin's biography 
is as interesting as any wild-west story, and it is all 
true. 

One way in which we waste time is by reading 
worthless books. There are so many books it is not 
possible to read them all. Read those which are 
worth while. There was a time when people did not 
understand how to write about worth-while things 
in a way that made interesting reading. Now, no mat- 
ter what the subject, there is an interesting book, 
written in language that you can understand. It is 
better to invest your time and money in one such book 
than to waste it on trashy literature. 

Conversation may be about worth-while things; 
picture plays should be of some value; games and 
other amusements may be instructive as well as amus- 
ing. We do not mean that we should never play non- 
sense games or see funny pictures. Sometimes we 
need to rest and forget all the things we have been 
working with. Then utter nonsense may be what 
we need, and it is economy to spend time that way. 
But light books, plays, and games need not be trashy 
ones. 

Good music is educational; cheap, "jazzy" music 



160 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

is demoralizing. Do not spend money for amuse- 
ments which you cannot remember with pleasure. 

If you make appointments, keep them. It is good 
training for you. It enables you to plan your time 
to better advantage, and it avoids wasting the time 
of others. When you are five minutes late at school 
or at breakfast, you waste not only 3^our time but that 
of others. Trains and opportunities do not wait. 
Form a habit of being on time. 

Just being at school or at work is not enough. If 
you are sleepy, tired, nearly sick, or the mind is busy 
with a ball-game, a new dress, or a party, you might 
as well be somewhere else. When you are supposed 
to be "on a job," that means with all your faculties. 
You must be "up and coming," alert, interested, full 
of vim, making time count. You cannot be at your 
best if in poor health or if you lack sleep, or if the 
digestive organs are not working properly. You must 
keep yourself in condition to work. 

You must conserve your teeth and eyes and not 
overtax the heart and other organs, so that they will 
last in good condition as long as you need them, until 
fifty, sixty or maybe seventy years old. Only a foolish 
person would be careless of his health when he is 
young and then pay for it all the rest of his life. He 
may live a long time. Playing strenuously, riding a 
bicycle too long or too hard may injure the heart 
muscle. As you grow older it may fail to do the 
work you want it to do. Colds do not seem to amount 
to much, but common colds lead to a long list of ser- 
ious diseases — so many that some physicians say that 
most of the illnesses which develop after people are 
forty years of age are the results of colds neglected. 
Take care of your health. 

Do not use your energy for foolish, useless, unim- 
portant things. Do not fret and fuss over things of 
no consequence. Briefly, take an inventory of the 
things you want to accomplish, the time, money, 



Thrift 161 

energy, you have to spend, and then plan to make 
the wisest use of your capital. 

It is easy to acquire a habit of idling over your 
work. Occasionally keep a record for a week. See 
how much time you spend bathing, dressing, combing 
your hair, getting ready for your day's work. Is it 
too much? How can you shorten it? 

Check up on waste motions you make in setting 
the table, feeding and watering the stock and other 
daily tasks. Efficiency experts have made great sav- 
ing in the time required to lay brick and to do similar 
common work, simply by showing the men how to 
avoid waste motions. 

What is your most wasteful habit? 

Write down all the things you should do ( 1 ) in 
your present business; (2) in preparing for the fu- 
ture; (3) in doing your share as a member of the 
community. Decide on the time needed for each, 
and make a plan to work by. 

Make a list of examples of waste around your 
home — waste of time, food, strength, clothes, money, 
etc. 

Do you know how much money is spent for you 
in a year? Ask mother to tell you how much your 
shoes and stockings, dresses, hats, coats, suits, mittens, 
books, games and other things cost. The bedding 
on your bed, the curtains, towels and other furnish- 
ings, the dishes you use, all cost someone something. 
It takes time and money to keep things clean. The 
food you eat costs money at the store, or it cost seed 
and land and somebody's time to grow it and gather 
it and cook it. Fire and lights, books and magazines 
— count them all in. Really, doesn't it seem as though 
you would have to do something worth while in order 
to be worth the time and thought and money and 
care that have been spent on you? Are you going to 
do something that will help make the world a better 
place to live? If so, you must plan your time and 
11 



162 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

begin now. With health, friends and a knowledge 
of how to earn your way, you can accomplish a great 
deal. Head, Heart, Hands, and Health, all have to 
work together if we are to accomplish anything. 

Your Hands as Reminders. Let us name the 
right hand / JFill. Now, hold up your left hand, 
and we will name the digits on it. Spread the fingers 
apart so that we can see each one. With your right 
fore-finger, touch each digit on the left hand and give 
it a name. Thumb, Plan Something; Fore-finger, 
Learn Something; Middle finger. Earn Something; 
Ring finger. Save Something; Little finger. Be Some- 
body! Now, if you really mean to do something, 
double your right hand (I Will) into a fist, bring it 
down on the palm of the left hand, and finish the 
story with emphasis, ''Begin Now!" 

Your Bank. In your desk is a little bank, in 
which you should regularly deposit your pennies, 
dimes and quarters. It is as truly a bank to you as 
is the big bank downtown with which your father 
does business. Every piece of money you put into it 
is a deposit. The amount grows larger as you add to 
it, and some day will be so large that you will be 
proud of your effort in saving. That money will be 
your servant, and it will afiford you much joy and 
satisfaction as you realize what opportunity for inde- 
pendence it places in your hands. 

The American Bankers' Association loses no op- 
portunity to teach people to be saving. Here is a 
recent statement printed by it on the subject of — 

THRIFT 

Without me, no man has ever achieved success, nor has any 
nation ever become great. 

I have been the bedrock of every successful career, and the 
cornerstone of every fortune. 

All the world know^s me and most of the world heeds my 
warning. 



Thrift 163 

The poor as well as the rich may have me. 

My power is limitless, my application boundless. 

He who possesses me has contentment in the present and surety 
for the future. 

I am of greater value than pearls, rubies, and diamonds. 

Once you have me, no man can take me away. 

I lift my possessor to higher planes of living, increase his earn- 
ing power, and bring to realization the hopes of his life. 

With me, a man may be well-dressed, well-housed, and well- 
fed. 

I insure absolutely against a rainy day. 

I drive want and care and doubt away. 

I guarantee prosperity and success to those who possess me. 

I have exalted those of low degree, and those of high degree 
have found me a helpful friend. 

To obtain me you need put out no capital but personal effort, 
and on all you invest in me, I guarantee dividends that last through 
life and after. 

I am as free as air. 

I am yours if j^ou will take me. 

I am THRIFT. 



Good Manners 



When you come into the house, are you careful to 
clean your shoes, to close the door quietly, to hang 
your hat and coat where they belong? If mother 
asks you to care for the baby, do you growl and sulk 
and say, "Aw, let Mayme do it," and then jerk the 
baby until it cries and mother has to take it? 

If you say "No" to the first question and "Yes" to 
the second, let us see what it means. 

If you do not wipe your feet, you are careless; if 
you bang the door, you are noisy and rude; if you 
throw your hat down, you are disorderly; if you 
growl at mother, you are surly and disrespectful; if 
you say, "Let Mayme do it," you shirk; if you jerk 
the baby, you show ill-temper and cruelty; if you 
force tired, busy mother to take the baby, you are 
selfish. 

Is that the kind of man or woman you want to be? 
Of course not. But boys become men, and girls grow 
into women; and the kind of boys and girls they are 
indicates what they will be some day as men and 
women. 

When tired, busy mother took the baby, did you 
feel happy and proud of yourself? Do you get any 
fun out of playing when you have left the chickens 
with no water to drink? Are you comfortable when 
you have teased sister until she cries, or when you 
have cheated in a game or in tests, or when you have 
quarreled with your playmates? Do you feel right 
after you have been rude, or when you have failed in 
what you know to be the right thing to do? If you 
disappoint people who trust you and depend on 5^ou, 
or do not live up to your own knowledge of what you 
should do, do you get any comfort out of that? 

164 



Good Manners 165 

You must determine to carry your own load, then 
to help the other person. "Do unto others as you 
would that others should do unto you." 

Laws Grow Out of the Need for Them. If 
you are unfair, why should not others be unfair in 
dealing with you? If you strike a playmate, he may 
strike back, and soon there will be no respect for any- 
body's rights. 

In thousands of years of living in groups, people 
have worked out ways of doing things which every- 
body accepts as standards. If in a game a ball falls 
back of a certain line, it is a foul ball ; when we meet 
anyone, each turns to the right; if you are growing 
a garden, no one has a right to trample it; and so on. 
If there were no rules by which to play games and 
do business, there could be no games and no business. 

Ethics deals with standards of conduct — our 
duties and responsibilities to ourselves, to others, to 
society in general. You will understand the term 
better if we call it r/ood manners; there is no dif- 
ference in the meaning. 

So large a part of our duty to others is covered 
when we follow the commonly accepted rules of con- 
duct that the panel on the chart is all devoted to good 
manners. If we are truly kind to others we shall not 
be likely to abuse their confidence by being dishonest, 
or unjust, or disloyal, or failing to keep our promises, 
or taking advantage of them in any way. If we have 
the self-respect which comes from keeping ourselves 
clean, and courteous, and decent, we are not likely to 
allow ourselves to become selfish, lazy, obstinate, 
fretful or cowardly. We cannot maintain our self- 
respect unless we live up to our own standards and 
do the right thing by others. "I am as good as others" 
means that I must show myself as kind, as noble, as 
self-sacrificing, as true and fine as any one else. 

Standards. It is easy to do the right thing when 
everyone around us always does the right thing and 



166 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

always expects us to do the same. It is more difficult 
to speak the truth when our companions tell untruths. 

One of the first things to do is to set up your stan- 
dards — the things you know to be right, the rules of 
conduct worthy of the sort of man or woman you 
want to be. Then never let the fact that "everybody 
else does it" tempt you to do anything which is not 
in keeping with your standards. 

Be Cheerful and Good-Humored. Doing 
right does not mean that we should go about with 
long faces and never be jolly and light-hearted. Be- 
ing happy is a duty as well as a pleasure. We have 
no right to inflict our worries and ill humors on 
others. When you receive an invitation it asks for 
"the pleasure of your company." That means that 
you are expected to contribute to the enjoyment of 
the gathering. It does not mean that you shall in- 
dulge in unworthy, questionable activities or pastime, 
or do anything in a rude way. 

Gentleness and Refinement. "Kind hearts 
are more than coronets." If we think kindly of folks, 
we are sure to act kindly toward them. We speak 
of "refinement in dress." Fashions in dress change. 
We do not dress according to the standards of our 
grandparents but, like theirs, our dress should be 
modest, not loud or vulgar. There is also "refine- 
ment in speech and actions." Never be betrayed into 
using coarse, indecent language. Do not think it is 
smart to overlook even the small courtesies. Always 
be respectful, obedient and attentive to parents and 
others in authority. Gentlemen remove their hats 
in the presence of a lady and never remain seated 
when she is standing. They look after the comfort 
of women, children, the elderly and the unfortunate. 
They are kind to animals. They are not snobbish. 

Rudeness, which is lack of courtesy, immediately 
proclaims to all the world a lack of good breeding. 
People who are accustomed to observing the civil i- 



Good Manners 167 

ties have acquired the habit. No amount of brains, 
money or achievement makes loud-voiced, quarrel- 
some, ill-bred people welcome among those who are 
really refined. 

Learn self-control. Do not cry, and cringe, and 
be cowardly and babyish. Do you look always on 
the dark side of things. Look at both sides of a sub- 
ject, but choose the bright side. Curve the corners 
of your mouth upward, and smile rather than com- 
plain. "He that ruleth his spirit is greater than he 
that taketh a city." 

Neighborly Duties. We all know the accepted 
virtues — to be truthful, honest, faithful, industrious, 
to be on time, to do our best, never to cheat or lie or 
steal, never to run away from dut}^, to confess when 
we are wrong, to be charitable in our thoughts as well 
as with our money, generous in overlooking other's 
faults but helping them to correct them, to do an 
honest day's work, to be loyal to our country and the 
right. 

Citizenship Training. We who live in a re- 
public have a very great responsibility. We help to 
make the laws. If we are cruel or unjust, we are 
likely to favor cruel, unjust laws. If we are dis- 
honest or selfish, we may try to make vicious laws 
which work to our personal advantage and are un- 
fair to others. We shall not be strong enough nor 
wise enough to do right in big things if we do not 
train by doing right in little things. 

A wise man once said, "I take ofT my hat in re- 
spect to the future senators, counsellors, teachers and 
other great men and women who may be among these 
boys and girls." "He that is faithful over few things, 
him will I make ruler over many things." 

Former Secretary of The Interior, Franklin K. 
Lane, imagined the flag talking to him the morning 
of the Fourth of July. It said to him, "I am what 
you make me, nothing more I am all that 



168 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

you hope to be, and have the courage to try for 

My stars and stripes are bright with cheer, 

brilliant with courage, firm with faith, because you 
have made them so out of your hearts. For you are 
the makers of the flag, and it is well that you glory 
in the making." 

It is our flag. Not simply because we live under 
it, but also because we make it what it is. So there 
are very big reasons why we should learn what is 
the right thing to do, and then do it. 

Good Associations. We grow like the things on 
which we set our thoughts. Good books, good pic- 
tures, good music and good friends are great helps. 
There are so many good and wonderful things to 
learn about that no one has any time to give to vicious 
or worthless things. No thrilling story contains more 
excitement than the true stories of great people. 

The conversion of St. Paul; the "very parfit, gen- 
til knight," Sir Galahad; Joan of Arc (leadership, 
heroism, humility) ; Joaquin Miller's story of Colum- 
bus with its stirring command, "Sail on! Sail on! 
Sail on! and on!" (If you know you're right, keep 
going) ; the hardships, bravery and ingenuity of the 
early settlers; the perseverance of Field in laying 
the Atlantic Cable; the determination of the French 
soldiers at Verdun who took for their watchword, 
"They shall not pass;" Helen Kellar, blind, deaf, and 
dumb, but a useful, successful, cheerful woman; 
Florence Nightingale; Frances Willard; Susan B. 
Anthony, and a host of others who have helped to 
make the world a better place in which to live furnish 
stories which can inspire every boy and girl through- 
out all their lives. 

If you are tired of hearing the names of Washing- 
ton and Lincoln, read the stories of their boyhood and 
achievements, and see how much those names stand 
for. We do not have room here for stories of these 



Good Manners 169 

people, but you will find them in the library, and 
you are sure to enjoy them. 

Moving pictures do not need to be about foolish 
or vicious subjects. There are just as interesting ones 
which have nothing degrading and which are worth 
while. "Whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
things are holy, whatsoever things are of good re- 
pute, think on these things." 

Reminders and Force of Habit. You will find 
good maxims and verses pinned on the wall or placed 
in a book where you see them every day to be of great 
aid to you. Commit to memory good poems. Build 
within yourself a desire to do the right. 

But good wishes do not make good actions. Be- 
tween the wish to be good and being good lie years 
of patient, persistent, constant effort. Resist tempta- 
tion in little things; then when the big test comes a 
habit has been formed, and you then see how easy 
it is to do right. 

A certain man has a motto, "This day I will beat 
my own record." It is not someone else's record, 
but his own. Never mind what the other fellow is 
doing. Do yourself a little better today then you did 
yesterday. Work a little harder, learn a little more, 
be a little kinder, a little more trustworthy. 

Heredity. Don't blame your shortcomings on 
inheritance. If your ancestors were not just as indus- 
trious, as brilliant, as trustworthy as you want to be, 
that simply means that you have to guard against 
those faults and strive harder. If you are inclined 
to be tardy at appointments or weak in arithmetic, 
just work a little harder along those lines. 

You do not need to associate with others who are 
not the right sort, but you cannot get away from your- 
self. Make yourself into the kind of person you like 
to be with. In order to be sure that you are accom- 
plishing something, plan constantly to overcome some 
fault and add some good quality. 



170 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Physical Condition Affects Morals. Good 
health gives us a wholesome outlook on life; it makes 
us strong and quick and sure. Indigestion means bad 
temper; bad tonsils and adenoids make people cross 
and selfish and interfere with the hearing so that they 
seem inattentive. Undernourished folks are nervous, 
fretful; overfed folks are sluggish and lazy. Eye 
and ear troubles which prevent our hearing or clear 
understanding leave us without work, and idle folks 
are almost certain to get into mischief. These ills 
can be overcome by medical treatment. Plain, nour- 
ishing food, comfortable clothing, physical exercise 
and mental occupation are necessary to a healthy 
moral outlook on life. 

Think of the Other Fellow. It is a good rule 
to try to make people think more highly of them- 
selves. Pride of the right sort and self respect are 
good stimulants. Instead of jeering at those who fail 
or who are different, cheer them. Let them know that 
you believe in them. Help them to believe in them- 
selves. "I'm sure you can, if you think you can; I'll 
help you." It is astonishing how much we can do 
when the need arises, if we but think we can. The 
Boy Scout rule is, ''I will do a daily good turn." 

"So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 

So near is God to man, 
When Duty whispers low, "Thou must," 

The youth replies, "I can." 

Service. This is the age of service, not selfish- 
ness. What can you do for your community? You 
can help to keep the yards and streets clean, destroy 
weeds and plant flowers, dispose of rubbish properly, 
protect and repair property instead of defacing it; 
help in good movements will make it a better place 
in which to live. Do your share, and then, if neces- 
sary, a little more. Carry your own load and then 
offer the other fellow a lift. Be an example to others. 



Good Manners 171 

Good work, good will, good fellowship are con- 
tagious. 

The city of Trenton, Missouri, has for its motto, 
"Get acquainted with your neighbor, you might like 
him." And you might work with your neighbor to 
make your community a better place in which to 
live. We are all dependent on one another. Living 
and working in harmony makes it easier to get things 
done, and is pleasanter. 

Study what needs to be done ; learn how it can be 
accomplished; fit yourself to help in the work, then 
stay by it until it is done. Aren't there big reasons 
why we should improve our time so that we can do 
our share of the world's work? 

"Four things a man must learn to do 
If he would keep his record true: 
To think without confusion clearly, 
To love his fellow-man sincerely, 
To act from honest motives purely, 
To trust in God and heaven securely." 

PROBLEMS 

Can you think of any situation in which it would 
be right to tell a lie? To break a promise? To dis- 
appoint others? 

Is it easier for a policeman or a soldier or a fire- 
man to face death in a good cause than it is for you 
to do so? Does their training and discipline help? 

How can you help make things easier for mother? 

Is it true that very poor people can keep them- 
selves clean and neat as easily as you can? 

Do you enjoy school more when you have your 
lessons well learned? 

Is it as much fun to clean up a yard or mend a 
broken latch on Hallow-e'en as it is to soil windows 
and take gates off their hinges? 

Why is it wrong to waste time? 



172 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

What man or woman do you know whom you 
would choose for your model? 

It is not necessary to place blame so that we may 
punish someone, but so that error shall not be re- 
peated. 

When is it right for a boy to "tell on" the mem- 
bers of the "gang" if they have done something 
wrong? 

A low yield of potatoes makes the price high. 
Should people plant only a small acreage to potatoes 
so that they may receive more money per bushel? 

Poor workmanship or poor leather makes shoes 
wear out more quickly. Shall the shoemaker do 
poor work so that he may sell more shoes? 

It is cheaper for the milkman if he is not required 
to pasteurize milk. But the safety of the citizens* 
health requires that milk sold should be pasteurized. 
The milkman is a member of the town council. How 
shall he vote on an ordinance requiring that all milk 
sold in the city must be pasteurized? 

Tom saw Fred cheating in an examination. After 
it was over, Tom said to Fred, "You are a good friend 
of mine, but your cheating in the examination was 
wrong in four ways." What do you think were the 
four ways that Tom had in mind? 

Henry is trying to decide whether or not he ought 
to go to college. He is talented, but poor; his father 
is dead and his mother is not strong. How ought 
Henry to decide the matter? 

A bank cashier takes money from the bank for 
speculation and loses it. A wealthy friend makes 
good the loss, so that none of the depositors loses any 
money. Should the cashier be punished? Did the 
cashier do wrong? Whom did he wrong? 

Two government officers are sent to the Yosemite 
with a large sum of money. As they drive round a 
corner in a rough part of the country, two robbers 



Good Manners 173 

spring out and yell, "Hands up!" The officers at 
once obeyed. Did they do right? 

Dick and Keran are in the same room at school. 
Dick got mad at the teacher one day, and that evening 
when the two boys were going past the schoolhouse, 
Dick had revenge on the teacher by throwing a snow- 
ball through the window in the schoolhouse. Keran 
saw him do it. The next day the school-teacher asked 
each boy in the school privately what he knew about 
it. What should Keran say when she asked him? 



Costume Design 

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be a famous French 
dressmaker for a time, hold a few yards of goods up 
to a model, snip and pin here and there — and lo and 
behold, a beautiful, graceful costume! Well, we 
are going to be dressmakers, in a very modest way, 
but we shall work with cardboard models instead of 
flesh and blood ones, and with delicately-colored, 
shimmery tissue and crepe papers, instead of expen- 
sive silks and serges. 

We shall make our models first, and shall begin 
with one boy and one girl. We can lay tissue paper 
on top of the dolls shown in the panel on the chart, 
and trace their outlines; then, using those outlines 
as patterns, we shall cut out similar dolls from stifif 
paper or bristol board. With paints we can give 
them as pretty or as interesting faces as we please, 
and all shades and styles of hair. 

Now for our costumes. We must provide our- 
selves with goods and trimming in the form of tissue 
paper of various shades, and in checks, stripes or 
other designs, such as can be found at any kinder- 
garten supply house; we must also have a box of 
paints and a bottle of paste. Now Jack and Jill shall 
each be supplied with a neat, pretty school outfit. 
Jill's shall be a one-piece dress of blue or pink, with 
collar, cufifs and belt of checked material. We shall 
cut a piece of paper for her dress as long as from 
her neck to the skirt bottom, and a little wider than 
the distance from hand to hand. We lay Jill on this 
piece, and cut out a dress along the lines of her figure, 
allowing for an edge or tabs that can be turned over 
the edges of the doll and pasted on her back, espe- 

174 



Costume Design 175 

cially on the shoulders and at the waist. We must 
see that the sleeves and skirt are a little full, so they 
will look natural. And now we are ready to trim. 
We cut out the collar, cuffs and belt from the checked 
paper, paste them in their places, not too smooth and 
flat, but with a little crinkle or flare in them. We 
also give Jill socks and slippers — colored paper for 
socks to match her dress, and black paper for her 
slippers. Now she can appear at school or at home. 

But winter days are coming, and Jill must have 
a hat and coat, too. It is very easily done. Again 
we lay Jill on the right-sized piece of paper, this 
time a dark, heavy piece, if you choose. We cut 
around her figure with the correct curves, as shown, 
adding flaps or edges to paste down. She is to have 
a fur collar, fur cuffs and a muff, all of which can 
be cut out of black paper according to the patterns 
shown. We paste them in place, and give Jill also 
a pair of high shoes. Then we go into the millinery 
business, and make a hat for her. It must be big 
and '^floppy," but very simple, the only trimming 
being a band of ribbon to match her coat. We can 
put it on her head by cutting a horizontal slit in the 
crown, just big enough for the top of her head to go 
through. We may need our paints for the finishing 
touches, such as the opening line of the coat, a soft 
outline for the fur, and perhaps the buttons, though 
they could be cut and pasted, too. 

We could give Jill a back to her costumes, and 
make them removable in this fashion. Folding the 
paper goods horizontally, we lay her on top of it, 
her neck at the fold, and cut out a neck that will just 
slip over her head, but not over her shoulders. Then 
we cut the dress as before, only this time there will 
be a front and back part, which must be pasted to- 
gether only on the shoulders and upper sleeves. 
Then the dress will slip off over Jill's head, and we 
can make her a new outfit. 



176 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Whichever way we choose to make her costume, 
with or without backs, we can very easily get a good 
deal of variety. We can put pleats or tucks or gath- 
ers into the dress pattern before we cut the outline; 
we can use the edges of lace paper doilies for em- 
broideries or laces; and we can add all sorts of 
pockets, sashes, panels and. drapes. 

But Jack is still to be fitted out. We use him as 
we used Jill for a pattern in cutting out his clothes. 
He must have a pair of knickers and a sailor blouse, 
with collar, cufifs, and a broad tie applied. His 
blouse must puff a little, and his trousers must have 
creases in the legs, so we must cut our goods gener- 
ously. We can either paint his shoes or paste them 
on. When he goes to school with the slate in his 
hand, he will want a sweater and bloomer knickers, 
a cap and high shoes. There are patterns for all 
these fascinating additions on the panel on the chart, 
and a little paste will put them where they belong. 

It may seem impossible to make Jack's garments 
removable, but if we think for a bit, we shall find it 
can be done. We can paste Jack's waist to his 
trousers instead of to his body, cut a neck line that 
will slip over his head, and paste together only the 
upper sleeve edges and the shoulder lines of the waist. 
Of course, if Jack demands a high collar, it can't be 
done. But we can give him a variety of costumes, 
too; for instance, a baseball costume with bat and 
glove, also a football outfit or an Indian or cowboy 
suit. It is so easy to outline these along Jack's body, 
and then paste on all the trimmings. 

Then if we should grow more ambitious, and 
wish to try more grown-up and fancy costumes, we 
might make dolls of a more m.ature age according 
to these directions. Let us make the pattern of paper 
first. We fold a piece of paper, 6 inches by 4>^ 
inches, through the center lengthwise, and divide the 
length with pencil lines into four equal parts, if the 



Costume Design \Tt 

doll is to represent a child from four to eight; into 
five, for a child from eight to fifteen; and into six 
or eight parts for an adult. Then we cut out the 
head within the first part, the waist within the next 
two, and the skirt and legs to suit the age. We can 
cut the dolls out folded or free hand, whichever we 
do best. Then we can dress each in a costume suit- 
able to his or her age, and with all the originality 
we can manage. When we have dolls in walking 
costumes, tea gowns, sport suits, evening dresses, etc., 
with hats and wraps to match, and all done in the 
latest fashions such as the style books show, we can 
put on a fashion show for the benefit of our elders, 
and convince them that we are indeed quite the equals 
of any French modiste. 



12 



Sewing 



You all remember, I am sure, some picture of a 
little girl in pantalets sitting at the feet of her full- 
skirted mother and painfully pushing a needle in 
and out, in and out, of a long, long seam. It was a 
picture of home life many years ago. Ever}'' little 
girl of that time had to start in early learning her 
stitches, for she had a whole lifetime of sewing be- 
fore her. There were no sewing machines then, 
for the time was nearly one hundred years ago, and 
sheets and pillowcases, tablecloths and napkins, tow- 
els, curtains, etc., to say nothing of dresses, under- 
wear, fine-pleated or ruffled shirts for the men of the 
family, maybe even their suits, had to be made by 
this little girl when she grew to womanhood. 

So she began early, and practised every day; she 
learned every kind of stitch, and then she made a 
sampler. Perhaps you have one in your house, be- 
longing to a great-great-grandmother. The little 
girl usually stitched all the letters of the alphabet, 
the numbers up to ten, maybe the design of a house 
and tree, her own name and age, and the date — all 
in the most beautiful stitches she could manage. 
Then her mother would boast of her to the neigh- 
bors, but never in the little girl's hearing; for now 
little daughter had proved herself diligent and duti- 
ful, a credit to her family. 

When thd sewing machine was invented and fac- 
tories began making clothes, little girls stopped mak- 
ing samplers, and some very unwise ones stopped 
learning to sew. I suppose the poor women were 
so glad to be rid of long seams that had to be sewed 
when a good story book or the beautiful out-of-doors 
was calling them, that they just threw up their hands 

178 



Sewing 179 

and said, "Never again !" or something similar. But 
now the women realize that, even with the stores 
full of ready-made clothes, lots of sewing must be 
done. We must all mend and darn, if we are going 
to be neat, attractive persons. And if we are going 
to have pretty garments out of little money, we must 
be able to cut, baste, fit, sew and trim them. Now 
that the tiresome part of sewing has been done away 
with by the sewing machine, we get real joy from 
seeing pretty, useful things shape themselves under 
our hands. There is no joy equal to that of being 
able to do things, and do them well. There is no 
slavery like being helpless before such problems of 
every-day life as cooking our food, making our 
clothes and taking care of ourselves in every way. 

It is because we wish to be independent and to 
have the joy of "creating," that we are going to learn 
the stitches and how to use them on clothes and house- 
linens. Suppose we get some unbleached muslin, a 
pretty, cheap, cream-colored cotton goods that is used 
now for everything from sheets and curtains to 
aprons and dresses. We'll provide ourselves also 
with some stout thread for basting, some finer white 
thread for sewing, a medium-sized needle, a thimble 
and some scissors. 

Now let us thread our needles and knot the thread. 
Do you remember the successful tailor in the fairy 
tale who always remembered the knot? Then we 
cut four oblongs, 5 inches by 8 inches, from our mus- 
lin, and learn the first stitch shown on the large chart 
panel, the basting stitch. We fit one oblong over 
another and baste the two together on one long side. 
We hold the two pieces in our left hand, the edges 
to be sewed lying over the left forefinger. We be- 
gin at the right, a half-inch below the edge, stick our 
needle in and out of the goods, spacing the stitches 
as evenly as possible and push ahead to the left. We 
may make the stitches long on one side and short on 



180 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



the other, if we choose; the main thing is to have 
the basting an even, straight line, for it is meant to 
be a guide line in sewing. We may now baste the 
other two oblongs together in the same fashion, and 
then we shall try the next stitch. 

Let us thread our needles with the sewing thread, 
and knot it. This time we put in running stitches 
that will stay when we have pulled out the basting 
threads, or guide line. We make the running stitches 
exactly the same way as we did the even basting 
stitches, but we make them a good deal smaller, as 




r"""~. — ■"""•'"""""""""~"""~~"~~~"~~"*'i 



FACE 

END-41] 
N-FACE 



END- 
h-FACE 



END- 



the chart shows, and we fasten our stitching at the 
end of the seam by sewing two or three stitches over 
each other. The line of running stitches must be 
put in just below the line of basting stitches. Now 
we have the two pieces sewed firmly together, much 
as the machine would sew them; so we can spread 
open our pieces, flatten out the seam, and press it. 
We sew the other two pieces together in just the same 
way. 

Now the idea strikes us that another seam, joining 
our two pieces of patch-work will make them into 
the top of a doll's bed quilt! We'll baste this long 
seam, of course, but instead of using the running 
stitch, we will try one that is firmer and much harder 
to pull out, although it is also much slower. That is 



Sewing 181 

the backstitch. We make one running stitch ; then 
instead of moving the needle forward we move it 
backward, sticking it into the goods just about where 
it came out in that first stitch. Then we move the 
needle forward twice the length of the backstitch, 
pull it through, and backstitch again. On the side 
towards us the stitching will look like a continuous 
line; on the other side there will be two lines. If 
we decided to practice the half backstitch on the last 
half of the seam, we would merely backstitch only 
half-way toward the end of the last running stitch in- 
stead of backstitching the whole way. This will 
make our quilt have a very firm seam in the middle. 
We shall now use the backstitch after every third or 
fourth running stitch, when we are sewing seams, for 
the sake of firmness. 

We haven't by any means finished with our run- 
ning stitch. Now-a-days we use it for outline em- 
broidery. We are going to embroider our quilt top. 
With a tumbler we will trace a circle in the middle 
of each patch, and then scallop the circle prettily 
into a sort of rose design, as shown in the figure. 
With blue or pink cotton floss or wool yarn, we will 
outline this easy design in the running stitch. Then 
we shall have had a good deal of practice in that im- 
portant stitch, with a pretty quilt top as our reward. 
There are any number of designs we might outline 
this way on bibs, towels, aprons, dresses, collars and 
cuffs. The charts on kites and flowers could give 
us some fine ideas for designs. 

We shall now cut a piece of muslin exactly the 
size of our quilt top, and a thin layer of cotton bat- 
ting a quarter-inch smaller all around. We turn in 
the edge of the quilt top and of the under-piece, put 
the two together with the cotton in between, baste 
carefully, and then use a new stitch for sewing the 
edges of the quilt together. That is the overhand 
stitch, shown on the chart; it is used always for sew- 



182 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



ing two edges together on the right side. We hold 
the edges evenly and firmly before us, between the 
thumb and forefinger, catch the two thicknesses with 
small but firm stitches, from back to front, slanting 
the needle from right to left. We might do it in the 
colored thread we used for the rose design. All we 
have to do after that is to "tie" our quilt; that is, to 

take one stitch with the 
colored thread quite 
through the quilt, 
every few inches down 
the seams, tying each 
stitch on top in a nice 
little knot with ends. 
And here we have a 
really useful sampler, 
with all the important 
stitches but one. 

The important 
stitch is the hemming 
stitch, which we use in 
table cloths, napkins, 
collars, dresses, etc., 
wherever we have to 
turn in a raw edge to make one that will not ravel 
but look finished. An easy method is shown on the 
chart, and we would better try it on a piece of muslin, 
which creases easily. We fold the edge over one- 
fourth inch, then over again a half-inch, crease, and 
baste. We hold the hem firmly over our left fore- 
finger, and take the first stitch to hide the knot under 
the hem. We point the needle upward at a slant, 
bringing it through two or three threads of the ma- 
terial under the fold, then through the edge of the 
fold. There will be little slant stitches on the seam 
side, and almost invisible ones on the other. We shall 
have to practice this stitch around two or three prac- 
tice squares before we shall do it comfortably. 




The Bed-Quilt Design 



Sewing 



183 



Then we are ready to finish our doll's bedding. 
We must remember that the sheets must be cut longer 
and wider than the bed to allow for the hems and for 
tucking in. There must be an inch hem at the top 
of the sheet and quarter-inch hems for the other three 
sides. When we have hemmed two such sheets, we 
shall probably be able to make much more even and 
fine stitches than when we started. Here is a case 
where practice makes perfect. 

Having made dolly's bedclothes, we might now 
start on her clothing. A petticoat is very easily 
made. We hem the lower edge of a straight piece 
of goods, the length of dolly from her waist to her 
dress hem, and wide enough to go twice around her 
waist. We could also overhand a little lace on the 
edge of the hem. Then we gather the top of the 
goods, using a loose running stitch and a double 
thread, and pushing the cloth back on the thread. 

We have on hand a narrow strip of the goods, a 
little longer than dolly's waist measure. The lower 
edge of that we fold up a quarter inch and crease. 
We fit the gathered edge on that fold and then baste; 
then we turn in the top 
edge of the waist band 
a quarter inch, fold the 
band down so that the 
turned-in edge rests on 
top of the gathers and 
is even with the under 
side of the band. Then 
we baste and stitch ; 
now all we need to do 
is to sew up a back 
seam in our petticoat, stopping about an inch from 
the band to allow for the placket. We shall make 
the simplest placket by just hemming carefully the 
two raw edges left. The fastening of the petticoat 




184 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



can be strings or snappers. If the petticoat is too 
long, or if we wish it trimmed, we can put in tucks 
with a small running stitch. The easiest way to 
make tucks equally distant is to measure with a 



Lay on Fo!d of the Materia 




Front 



Back 



marked cardboard the distance from the edge of one 
tuck to the edge of the other, crease, baste and sew 
the right distance from the edge of the tuck. 

The two figures show how we can cut out an 
underwaist for dolly, and some panties. We shall 
cut some patterns out of paper first. Let us take 
note that we fold the paper or the goods lengthwise 
so that we cut the two sides at the same time. There 
will be no seam in the front of either the waist or the 
panties, but we shall have to cut through the fold in 
the center back for the opening in the waist, and 
for the placket of the panties. We shall have to 
sew side seams in both garments, hem the neck, the 



Sewing 



185 



armholes and the lower part of the waist, sew leg 
seams and side seams in the panties, hem the legs, 
gather the top and put on a band. 

Now as we are able to do our work a little better, 

Lay on Fold of the Material 



■ 


v/ 


Side 


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1 

h 

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1 




Front 



Back 



we are becoming dissatisfied with the raw edges of 
the seams we make with a simple running stitch. Of 
course we can overcast them, a coarse form of over- 
handing, as shown in the figure, but that is really 
done only on heavy wool or silk goods. We prefer 
to learn how to make the two neat seams that are 
called French and felled seams. We use those on 
all the nice underwear and pretty waists. The 
French seam is simple and quick; it is really two 
seams, one inside the other. We sew the first one 
on the right side of the goods with the running 
stitch. Then we open the two edges flat, trim and 
smooth them, turn the seams over, and on the wrong 
side make a new seam right over the first one. This 
one we backstitch; the seam shows no raw edges. 
Neither does the felled seam, which has the added 



186 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

value of lying flat. It is also a doubly-sewed seam. 
First we baste the two edges together as for an ordi- 
nary seam. Then we cut off the edge of one seam 
side so that it lies a little below the edge of the other, 
spread out the goods, turn in the wider edge a little 
and turn it over the narrow raw edge, baste it and 
hem it. That, too, is a fine hem for underwear and 
shirts and waists. 

We have also discovered that in order to make 
neat garments for dolly, we must learn how to make 
button holes and sew on buttons. Buttons are easy, 
the chart telling the story. That pin over which we 
stitch our buttons on, is to make the button sit so high 
on its twist of thread that the button hole will fit over 
it without drawing. 

Buttonholes are a test of real skill, and must be 
practised very often. When we have cut the slit for 
the buttonhole, we either overcast the edges or lay a 
couple of long stitches below either edge, in order to 
strengthen them. Then we use the buttonhole stitch, 
which is as follows : the needle goes in from the back, 
below the edge and is pulled through; then the 
thread is thrown in a loop from right to left, the 
needle being brought over the top of the loop, back 
of the buttonhole edge, and through. This is con- 
tinued, and a smooth edge that looks like crochet is 
formed. We are very fond of this edge for doilies 
and embroidery of all kinds. 

When we have mastered these stitches, there is 
no end to the clothes we can make and the embroid- 
ery we can put on them. We can make pleats in- 
stead of gathers in our petticoat-pattern, and have a 
sport skirt for dolly. If we put some short sleeves 
in the underwaist it will be a fine guimpe for a sleeve- 
less dress. 

The dress itself is so very easy, too. Here is that 
ever-useful kimona pattern, so delightful t6 cut and 
with only two seams to stitch. We can have sleeves 



Sewing 



187 



in it, or not; without sleeves it will make an apron 
or overdress; with sleeves it will make a complete 
dress. We can cut it off short, without sleeves, for 



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FINISHED 
NIGHTGOWN 



a chemise ; long, with sleeves, for a nightgown. We 
can cut it up the back for buttons and buttonholes, 
pleat it, put a belt on it, or trim it with bands, tucks, 
lace, embroidery, etc., for pretty dresses. Dolly can 



188 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

have a full trunkful of clothes in a very short time 
now. 

There is only one more very necessary lesson — 
that on darning stockings. It is an art to darn well, 
for it is much like weaving and lace-making. We'll 
try a hole on baby's stocking first — a small hole. 
We'll use a darner, too, spreading the hole smoothly 
on its surface. Armed with a needle threaded witi 
darning cotton or wool, but not knotted, we begifj 
operations. We lay long stitches, not just from edge 
to edge of the hole, but from edge to edge of the 
worn spot. Now we have a lot of stitches from top 
to bottom, and must begin working from side to side. 
This time we weave; that is, the needle goes under 
one stitch, over the next, under the third, over the 
fourth, etc., until it reaches the outer edge of the 
worn spot. As it returns, it goes over, under, over, 
under, just as on its first trip ; but now it goes under 
the one it went over, and over the one it went under. 
It is just like the weaving we do in school, and if we 
are careful we can do a good job even from the first. 
Then think how we can help mother and have a 
cozy time, too, darning stockings while chatting with 
those around us. 

Now that we can make everything from sheets 
to dresses for dolly, and keep her and ourselves 
mended and darned, we shall expect mother to go 
and tell the neighbors what skilful, clever daughters 
she has! 



The Cat Family 

The three little kittens in the pan of the scale, 
shown in the large picture on the chart, are so attrac- 
tive looking that we want to cuddle them. No baby 
animal is more appealing than is the soft ball of fur 
with pleading eyes and playful ways that we call a 
kitten. 

We like to watch a kitten play; it mews so plain- 
tively when it wants to be fed, and purrs so con- 
tentedly and thankfully when we give it a saucer of 
milk. 

Don't you like to stroke pussy's soft fur and listen 
to its purr? Don't you think a cat lying before a fire 
makes a room look homelike? 

One would never think that these playful, friend- 
ly kittens are related to all the fierce, cruel animals 
shown on the chart panel. But the soft paws con- 
ceal sharp claws, which even the youngest kitten 
knows how to use. All the animals pictured are 
members of the Cat family, because of their struc- 
ture and like traits of character. All cats are flesh- 
eaters. After all, it is no more strange that our kit- 
ten should be related to the lion and the tiger than 
it is that our faithful dog is descended from cruel 
wolves. Someone called the kitten — 

"Litde lion, small and dainty sweet, 
With sea-gray eyes and softly stepping feet." 

Cats as Hunters. What do you know about 

cats. You probably have been told that their eyes 
are made so that they can see at night. Did you ever 
see a cat's eyes at night? How did they look? Like 
two balls of fire? Did they frighten you? Did 
you ever look closely at a cat's eyes at noontime on 



189 



190 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

a bright day? What shape was the pupil? Was it 
longest up and down, or sideways? Is it different 
at different times of the day? Why? Do all mem- 
bers of the Cat family have night-seeing eyes? What 
other animals do? Are they animals that the cats 
hunt? When do cats hunt? 

How does the cat walk? Can you make a pic- 
ture of the way her tracks look? Can she run fast? 
Can she climb? Can she swim? These are ques- 
tions which w^e might answer here, but you will en- 
joy watching some of the cats of your neighborhood 
and learning the answers for yourself. 

What does the cat hunt? Young rabbits? Little 
chickens? Birds? Is the cat a good animal or a 
bad animal? Are any of us all good or all bad? 
Perhaps the cat is like the rest of us. All members 
of the Cat family eat other animals for food; but so 
do other flesh-eating animals. So do we. Possibly 
it is no more cruel for the cat to seek birds for food 
than it is for a dog to hunt for rabbits or for us to 
kill a chicken for dinner. But we do not want the 
birds killed. We shall learn later if there is any 
way of protecting them. 

Cat History. Cats have lived with people thou- 
sands of years. Carvings made more than three 
thousand years ago on Egyptian buildings show that 
people of that time kept as pets three kinds of ani- 
mals — monkeys, dogs and cats. The monkeys were 
amusing, the dogs were useful ; the cats were both 
amusing and useful. 

Egypt was called the "granary of the world," be- 
cause its people produced most of the grain grown 
at that time. There were no tight, well-built ware- 
houses or elevators in which to store the grain, and 
cats were needed to keep rats and mice from eating it. 

On a tomb at Thebes (can you find Thebes on a 
map of Africa?) is a piece of sculpture which shows 
an Egyptian hunting game in the marshes. In the 



The Cat Famihj 191 

boat with him are the whole family, their servants 
and their animals. The cat is standing beside its 
master, "pointing" as pointer dogs do, to show where 
the game is. The master has in his hand a schbot, 
which was like the Australian boomerang, which he 
is about to throw at the game, probably a duck. It 
was the cat's business to go into the water and bring 
back the game. 

Would our cats do that? No. They do some- 
times dip a paw into water and catch small fish ; it is 
not safe to leave the gold-fish bowl where the cat can 
reach it. But cats dislike very much to have water 
touch them. They raise as much objection to being 
washed as some children do! The Egyptian cat 
may have been more like the cheeta than like our 
house cat. 

On another tomb is a picture of an ancient king 
with his cat at his feet. This cat wears gold ear- 
rings and an elaborate collar. One of the ancient 
goddesses is pictured as having a cat's head. 

Partly because cats were not common, and people 
wanted more of them to catch mice; partly, per- 
haps, because cats do have a very appealing way 
about them, the Egyptian cats were sacred animals. 
People were not allowed to kill them. In case of 
fire, great efforts were made to save the cats. When 
a cat died, the members of the household shaved their 
eyebrows and went into mourning. Favorite cats 
were embalmed, the faces were painted and the 
bodies were wrapped in plaited straw and buried 
with great, ceremony. Thousands of cat mummies 
have been dug up. 

Because the size of the pupil of the cat's eye 
changes as the sun rises and sets, it was used as a sym- 
bol of the sun. It is believed the word cat comes 
from a word which meant seeing. The cat meant 
the sun; the sun meant light and liberty and justice; 
so the cat's image was used on the shields of many 



192 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

old families and on the r03'^al banners of Persia and 
Korea. 

Because the cat goes about at night, she was also 
the emblem of the moon. In one story, the moon is 
represented as a cat devouring the gray mice of twi- 
light. 

Cats never store food as dogs do from the habit 
of centuries, because they have always had food given 
to them. In some European countries the custom 
of feeding and caring for cats at the city's expense 
has existed since the days when cats were befriended 
so that they might keep away rodents. 

Cat Stories. Do you know the story of "Puss 
In Boots?" And Dick Whittington and his cat? 
Can you say the rhyme about the "Three Little Kit- 
tens?" Also "I Love My Dear Puss," and "Went 
to London to See the Queen," and the one about the 
cat that burnt her petticoat? Do you know other 
rhymes about cats or kittens? 

There are stories of cats wakening people in burn- 
ing buildings; of how they will go through fire or 
water, and fight furiously to save their young; stories 
of how readily they distinguish the footsteps of peo- 
ple whom they like; stories of how they wait at a 
certain hour for someone of whom they are fond who 
usually comes at that time; and innumerable stories 
of the ease and swiftness with which they find their 
way back home, even when they have been carried 
long distances in a closed sack after night. Some of 
these incidents are probably true. Many of them are 
merely good stories, without any foundation in fact. 
[Cats' quickness, the ease with which they work their 
[way out of a tight grasp, their faculty for always 
lighting on their feet and the quickness with which 
they may disappear from sight account for the old 
and foolish idea that they have nine lives. 

Cat Legends. There are many legends about 
cats. According to a story of the Arabs, which you 



The Cat Family 193 

need not believe, there were no cats when the family 
of Noah went into the Ark. But the people were 
afraid the mice would ruin their clothing and eat 
their provisions. So Noah passed his hand three 
times over the head of the lioness, she sneezed, and a 
cat ran out of her nostrils! The appearance of the 
cat so frightened the mice that they hid, and they have 
been hiding from Puss ever since. You may be in- 
terested to know that in some pictures of the animals 
coming out of the Ark, the cat is walking proudly 
at the very head of the procession. Evidently she 
began early to let folks know that she thinks she is 
a person of consequence. 

Another legend relates to a monk shut in a cell. 
Satan sent hundreds of mice to annoy the poor man. 
Out of the monk's sleeve sprang a furry animal that 
devoured all the mice but two. These two escaped 
by hiding in crevices in the wall, and ever since all 
cats watch at all holes to catch the two mice which 
got away. 

A Russian fable says that when the animals were 
made, the dog was left without either fur or hair. 
The fur which was to have been the dog's was given 
to the cat, and dogs had to be content with coarse 
hair. From this story we get the idea that dogs 
think that cats have their property, which is the rea- 
son that all dogs chase all cats. 

A fable told in many countries about many dif- 
ferent bridges is of a man who undertook to build 
a bridge over a dif^cult chasm. He could not get 
the last span in place, and asked Satan to help him. 
The devil promised to do so, if he could have the 
first soul which crossed the bridge. The man agreed. 
When the bridge was done he sent a cat across. It 
sprang at the devil and clawed him so fiercely that 
he let it go. All these stories illustrate traits of 
the cat, 

13 



194 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Cat Character. Someone says that cats in 
many ways resemble well-bred people. They are 
quiet, well-behaved and they are affectionate. They 
like to be neat and clean. Notice how carefully they 
wash themselves, licking and smoothing themselves 
all over with a tongue which has been likened to a 
currycomb. How do they wash the top of the head? 

They like to be noticed. One ancient writer says 
that when the "beaste" has a fresh, new coat, it 
"goethe faste aboute to be scene." Notice how the 
cat rubs against us or climbs into the lap to be fon- 
dled. Dickens' cat, Williamina, used to sit on the 
table as he wrote. When it grew tired, according 
to the story, it would put out the candles with its 
paw, so he would quit work and pay attention to it. 

Dogs like to travel to new places; cats like to 
stretch themselves before an open fire at home and 
blink and dream. Do you suppose they dream of 
the days when their ancestors hunted in a world that 
was new? Sometimes they look as though they were 
thinking on deep subjects ; sometimes they look as 
though they did not quite approve of us and the things 
which appear of little consequence with which we 
busy ourselves. 

Swinburne, an English poet, wrote of the cat: 

Wild on woodland ways, your sires 
Flashed like fire. 

Fair as flame, and fierce and fleet 
As with wings, on wingless feet, 
Shone and sprang your mother free, 
Bright and brave as wind or sea. 

Cats like to feel independent. They want to be 
free to come and go as fancy dictates. They are 
never our servants, as are dogs and horses. They 
are our friends and companions. 

It is probable that cats' habit of playing with 
mice — letting them go and then pouncing upon them 



The Cat Family 195 

— is their way of practice in perfecting themselves 
in the art of catching live animals; it is the way 
young kittens are taught to catch and kill. Cats run 
and spring up trees and scratch at the bark to stretch 
the muscles of the feet and legs. Except when pro- 
tected and fed by man, the cat's safety and food de- 
pend on its ability to surprise, catch and kill its prey. 

Cats on Guard Duty. Frederick the Great 
used to require captured towns to furnish a certain 
number of cats to help guard the stores for the army. 

Cats are still made use of in the war against mice 
and rats, especially where paper is stored. The Na- 
tional Printing Office of France sets aside a sum of 
money to provide meals for a large stafif of cats and 
wages for their caretaker. 

The Midland Railway Company of England and 
the London dockyards are said to use many cats to 
protect the grainsacks. Even a tiny hole gnawed 
in a sack will cause the loss of much grain. You 
may remember that during the World War vast 
quantities of wheat stored in sacks in Australia were 
destroyed by rats and mice. 

Foundries mix flour with the sand used to make 
casts, and in some countries cats are still kept in such 
places to kill or frighten away the mice. These 
cats must be taught not to walk on the moulds, or 
scratch or injure them. Newspaper offices, fire and 
police stations usually keep cats to rid the buildings 
of rats and mice. 

The use of cats as mousers is a relic of early days. 
Traps will dispose of many more mice than can a 
great many cats. 

Cats or Birds. Cats which catch mice also catch 
birds. It is estimated that in the United States cats 
kill as many as 35,000,000 birds a year. Birds are 
valuable as destroyers of worms and bugs, which 
without this check would ruin vegetation. 

Those of us who love our cats wish to keep them, 



196 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

but we should not keep them unless we make an 
effort to protect the birds in some way. If we put 
a bell on the cat, the birds can hear her coming. In 
placing birdhouses we can see that they are where 
cats cannot get to them to kill the little birds before 
they are old enough to fly. 

Cats and Disease. Cats are subject to many 
diseases, especially of the breathing organs, similar 
to the diseases of people. We cannot keep cats in 
the house all the time. When they run out, we do 
not know what filthy, dirty, diseased places they 
visit. A cat which carries disease and vermin is 
not a fit playmate for boys and girls. We should 
watch and plan carefully and get information from 
those who know much about cat habits before we 
expose ourselves to such dangers. 

Care of Cats. Cats should be allowed to run 
out of doors. They need fresh air. They like to 
roll in a grass-plot or on gravel, and to climb and 
play freely. For feed, they need milk, grass, fresh 
vegetables and meat. Cats are especially fond of 
catnip, asparagus, cabbage, fish and raw liver. They 
need water to drink, and a comfortable place in 
which to sleep. 

If we keep cats, we must not turn them outdoors 
to shift for themselves at night or when we go on a 
vacation. They get into mischief, annoy the neigh- 
bors and acquire thieving habits. They are at the 
mercy of dogs and cruel boys. Homeless, suffering, 
starved cats have a furtive, scared look. They 
are hunted and tormented until they are always ready 
to run; it is no wonder that in ancient times such 
cats were suspected of being in league with the Evil 
One. 

Breeds of Cats. All domestic cats are divided 
into two general classes, and these are called Persian, 
or long-haired, and English, or short-haired. Each 
class contains cats which are black, white, bluish, 



The Cat Family 197 

smoke, and silver colored, and tabbies, or tortoise- 
shell, or tiger cats. 

Angora cats are Persians. Siamese cats are de- 
scended from cats originally kept in the royal palace 
at Siam. Abyssinian, or bunny, cats are supposed to 
be descended from the original Egyptian cats. Many 
cats, from the Isle of Man, are tailless, or have only 
short stumps of tails. Someone has explained this 
by saying that the people who inhabit the Isle of 
Man are Celts. The ancient Celts believed that if 
you stepped on a cat's tail, a serpent would run out 
from it. They did not wish to have anything to do 
with snakes, so they bred cats from those born with- 
out tails. The Japanese cut ofif the tails of their 
cats, as people here cut off the tails of some dogs. 

Tabby means striped, but the name is often used 
to refer to any cat. In America, short-haired blue 
cats are often called Maltese. Grimalkin, probably 
from gray and malkin, originally meant an old cat, 
but later came to mean a sort of witch cat. Puss 
comes from a word which means little. 

THE CAT'S COUSINS 

Some of the fiercest and most dangerous animals 
are cats. Let us look at these wild cousins of our 
housecat and see what they are like. Have you seen 
any of them with a circus or at the zoo? 

In America we have, in the order of their size, 
the jaguar, puma, Canada lynx, red lynx or wild 
cat, and the ocelot. 

The jaguar is found only in Mexico and South 
America. It is about seven feet long, is handsome, 
powerful and dangerous, and is the fiercest of the 
cats that live in either of the Americas. 

The puma, mountain lion, or cougar, is found 
in the Rocky Mountain States and south to Pata- 
gonia. W. T. Hornaday, the great naturalist, says 



198 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

that it is not so dangerous as a savage dog. It has 
a terrifying scream, but runs away if it is possible 
to escape danger. It is the best climber among the 
large cats, but is rather small, for it is only about 
forty inches in length in the body. 

All lynxes are short-tailed, with heavy fur, are 
good tree-climbers, and are thirty to forty inches in 
length. The porcupine is the only small animal that 
they can not catch and kill. But they are said to 
be "no more dangerous to man than rabbits are. 
They never fight unless cornered." They were for- 
merly found in all parts of North America. The 
Canada lynx has a long pencil of stiff black hair 
standing up from the tip of the ears. It is a good 
climber and swims well, but runs poorly. The red 
lynx is called the red or bay lynx, wild cat, or bob 
cat, according to the part of the country in which 
it lives. In the west it is spotted with black spots, 
as you see in the picture on the large panel. It has 
a fine-looking face, resembling that of a tame cat. 
It is found wherever there are large forests in the 
West and in the Atlantic states. It is not found in 
South America. 

The ocelot, or tiger, cat appears to be a small 
leopard. It is the only cat on which the stripes run 
lengthwise of the body. The naturalist says that 
"like most small yellow cats, it is ill-tempered." It 
is found in Southern Texas and south through Mex- 
ico and South America, and is from thirty to thirty- 
six inches in length. 

The lion, tiger, leopard and cheeta are found only 
in Asia and Africa. 

The lion is the largest and most majestic of the 
cats. The male lion is the only cat which has a 
mane, and no other cat has a brush on the end of 
the tail. The lion cannot climb a tree as other cats 
can. For short distances, it can trot or gallop as 
fast as a horse. It is so strong it can kill a man with 



The Cat Family 199 

one blow of the paw, it can drag the body of an ox. 
It kills only when hungry or when attacked. 

Tigers are the most treacherous members of the 
Cat family; it is not possible to tame them so they 
can be trusted for a single moment. They are found 
only in Asia, although there are fossil remains in 
the United States, which means that thousands of 
years ago there were tigers in this country. Large 
tigers may be as large as a lion, and almost as strong. 
They are not naturally climbers, but they swim well. 

Leopards were once supposed to be a cross be- 
tween lions and panthers. Panthers are large leop- 
ards, usually dark colored. They are more easily 
aroused, more stealthy, and more dangerous than 
tigers. 

Do you know Kipling's story, "How the Leopard 
Got His Spots"? If it is in the library, I am sure 
you will enjoy reading it. 

Cheetas, or hunting leopards, are trained to hunt 
antelope and other small game. Their short claws 
do not draw in as do those of other cats. When 
trained, they are very docile, and "as fond of notice 
as a house cat." 

Some of these large, wild and dangerous mem- 
bers of the Cat family are seen in circuses in an ap- 
parently tame state. They are taught to perform 
tricks and to obey the orders of their masters. How- 
ever, they must be watched every minute while out 
of their cages; they can never be domesticated, like 
the family cat, but always remain treacherous. 



The Dog Family 

A well-known play, called The Bluebird, tells 
about a small boy and his sister who go in search of 
the bluebird, "Happiness." The fairy Light guides 
them, and they take with them in their search many 
companions, such as the Dog, the Cat, Sugar, Milk, 
Bread, etc. Into the Kingdom of the Past, where 
the dead live, they travel first; then into the King- 
dom of the Present, and lastly into the Kingdom of 
the Future. Dreadful things happen; they must 
visit graveyards, alone and at midnight; they must 
search through the Domain of Night, where the Ter- 
rors dwell — Sicknesses, Evils, War and other Mon- 
sters. When they search through a huge black wood, 
all the Trees and all the Animals, led by the treach- 
erous Cat, hold a conference and plan to kill these 
human beings, whom they hate so much because Man 
rules over them. 

Throughout all these adventures, is it greedy 
Bread, or flattering Sugar, or cowardly Milk, or the 
sly Cat, who aids and comforts and stands by man? 
No. The only one out of the whole world of nature 
that is loyal always, devoted always, loving always, 
is the Dog. He fights for the children, saves them, 
and brings them back home again to the bluebird, 
who, after all, lives in their own little cottage. 

This is a very fanciful story, but it tells a big 
scientific and historical truth; namely, that since the 
world began, the dog, out of the whole world of na- 
ture, has been man's first and most faithful friend. 
We have proof of his faithfulness and love every 
day; but for proof of the fact that he was our first 
animal friend, we must go to the scientist and the 
historian. They tell us that when they dig up, as 

200 



The Dog Family 201 

they are always doing, the homes of cave men who 
lived many thousands of years ago, they find along 
with the queer stone knives and other tools, side by 
side with the skeletons of the men themselves, the 
skeletons of dogs. Furthermore, they have found 
carved on the rocks along the Baltic Sea, in the north 
of Europe, and also on rocks in Assyria, in Western 
Asia, pictures of men clad only in skins, hunting 
with several large dogs that look like mastiffs or wolf- 
dogs. You must remember that that was long be- 
fore man had tamed and made use of any other ani- 
mals, such as horses, cows, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc. 

Of course, like all other animals, the dog was 
wild once. There is no question but that he is a 
true descendant of the wolf and some cousins of the 
wolf, like the jackal, the coyote and perhaps the 
dingo, who is an Australian wild dog. If you look 
at the pictures of these wild animals on your chart, 
you will see how much they resemble some dogs. 

When you think of the poodle, the pug, the bull- 
dog, or the spaniel, you wonder how they can possi- 
bly have wolf ancestors. They have, however, and 
scientists can prove it from much more important 
evidence than mere looks. Every dog, whether he 
be a Newfoundland weighing almost 300 pounds or 
a Chihuahua Mexican dog weighing a pound and a 
half, shows decided traces of his ancestry in his in- 
stincts and habits. 

Do you know why a dog turns around and around 
before lying down? It is because his wolf ancestor 
had to trample down the brush of his bed to make it 
smooth and to scare out the snakes and centipedes. 
Do you know why a dog bolts his food in spite of 
the fact that he has forty-two teeth, ten more than 
you have? It is because, when he hunted in packs 
like the wolves, and ran down his prey, he had to 
bolt his food quickly in order to get another mouthful 
before the rest of the pack had eaten it all. Do you 



202 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

know why he buries a bone he is not hungry for? 
Because food used to be very scarce in his ancestral 
days, and the wolf-dog learned to save for a starva- 
tion period. 

Do you know why puppies in their play always 
worry each other's fore-legs? Because when their 
wild ancestors used to fight, they tried to disable each 
other by crippling the fore-legs, since those legs were 
of most value to them in side-stepping the enemy's 
attack on the throat, the most easily wounded part of 
the dog and therefore the first spot aimed at in a 
fight. Do you know why a dog howl is always an- 
swered by howls from all the other dogs in the neigh- 
borhood? Because that's the way the wolf called 
the pack together before they started on the hunt. 
And do you know why he howls especially on moon- 
light nights? That's because his wild ancestors used 
to find moonlight nights especially good for hunting 
purposes. And so on; perhaps you can think of 
other dog traits that can be explained when you re- 
member that the dog's great-grandfathers, several 
times removed, lived in the woods and hunted for 
their food with the rest of the pack. 

Perhaps you would like to know how it is that 
all these hundreds of varieties of dogs have come 
from the wolf-like ancestor. What you must re- 
member is that through the thousands and thousands 
of years that the dog has been following man around, 
he has adapted himself to every change in man's life 
and condition and has developed the qualities that 
his masters most needed. He was always swift and 
intelligent, possessed of the keenest nose and the 
sharpest hearing. Man first needed dogs for hunt- 
ing purposes, so these traits were especially developed 
and there resulted the wonderful hunting dogs of all 
types. 

First came the hound; elk hounds, greyhounds, 
other hounds, deer hounds, bloodhounds and fox- 



The Dog Family 203 

hounds. The names of most of them tell you what 
animals they were trained to hunt. All of them are 
built for speed, like a racing automobile; they must 
be swifter than the swiftest wild animals in the forest, 
and they are. The best example is the greyhound, 
which hunted the swift deer. Look at the picture 
on the panel and note the long, slim, curved body, the 
narrow, pointed head, the smooth, satiny coat, the 
long, slender legs, every characteristic helping him 
to cut through the air like a flash. He looks as if 
he were made of whip cord, not of flesh and blood. 

Not all the hounds are smooth-coated, but all ex- 
cept the bloodhound and the otter hound show the 
slender, gracefully curved body and the legs like 
steel springs. As the otter hound hunts in water, 
he is built more for swimming and nosing into river 
bottoms. He looks something like an Airedale, and 
probably is a distant grandfather of that water-loving 
dog. The bloodhound has a huge, wrinkled head, 
with flapping ears, and instead of being the terrible 
creature you think of in Uncle Tom's Cabin, he is 
a most gentle, melancholy looking animal. But he 
can follow a trail hours after it has been made, and 
he is a terror to criminals who think to hide them- 
selves in woods and swamps. 

One of the famous hounds in stories was an Irish 
wolf hound called Gellert. He belonged to a Welsh 
prince, who liked him best of all his hunting dogs. 
One day Gellert was missing from the hunt, much to 
the disgust of the Prince. When the Prince, whose 
name was Llewellyn, returned, the dog met him with 
his jaws all bloody. The Prince, very much alarmed, 
rushed to the room where his baby son slept. It 
was all upset, the cradle upside down, and the baby 
nowhere to be seen. Immediately the Prince jumped 
to the conclusion that Gellert had killed his son. He 
stabbed the dog to the heart. Then he heard a cry 
from under the cradle, and there he found his son, 



204 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

unharmed, while beside him lay a dead wolf. Gellert 
had saved the child. The Prince was so overcome 
with grief for his hasty act that he raised a tomb to 
the faithful hound. Now a whole village in Wales 
is called Beth Gellert, in memory of that dog. 

There are other hunting dogs besides hounds, 
however — those that are trained to "point" out a 
covey of birds and to "retrieve" the wounded or dead 
birds, that is, to fetch them out of water or swamps 
and bring them to their masters. Now you can see 
how they got their names— pointers, retrievers, etc. 
They are all small dogs, very honest, faithful and in- 
telligent. Think how keen their sense of smell must 
be to track the birds, how quiet they must be to go 
after them without startling the wild creatures, and 
how well-trained they are to wait quietly for their 
master to shoot, when their natural instinct must be 
to jump at their prey and kill it. That is the marvel 
about all hunting dogs, that they can be trained to go 
against their natural instincts. 

Another interesting hunting dog is the affection- 
ate, excitable, joyous little terrier, in all his varieties 
— Boston, Irish, Scotch, Welsh, fox, etc. The name 
terrier comes from the Latin word meaning earth, 
for this little dog was once used to hunt animals that 
burrow in the earth, like rats, foxes and badgers. 
You will note the habit all terriers have of sniffing 
the ground. We think of them now chiefly as the 
best little "pals" in the world, entertaining, loyal and 
courageous. A good story is told about an Irish 
terrier in a lion hunt. The lion would not stir from 
his lair, no matter what the hunters did. All of a 
sudden he roared and jumped out into view of the 
hunters. No wonder; his tail stood out straight 
behind him, and attached to the end of it was the small 
Irish terrier with his teeth locked. 

That sounds as if it might be told of the Airedale, 
too, who is the "scrappiest" and perhaps the most in- 



The Dog Family 205 

telligent of the terriers. He is not a pure terrier, 
but has otter hound blood in him, just as other terriers 
have bulldog blood in them. The Airedale never 
avoids a fight, and some people say he is bad-tem- 
pered. No one questions his intelligence; he was 
one of the types used in the recent war for all sorts 
of purposes that we'll tell about later. He's very 
popular, too, at present, and quite expensive, since 
he is a show dog with pedigrees and all sorts of 
"points" to be looked after. You no doubt consider 
him very homely, and so he is; but as with the bull- 
dog, the homelier the better, according to dog stand- 
ards. 

By and by man discovered that he could use the 
dog for other purposes than hunting. He needed 
the dog's courage, affection and loyalty for his home 
and his family. Thus was developed the house dog, 
who must be big and strong, patient with the family 
but able to fight fiercely with an enemy. Very 
likely the big mastiffs, or dogs like the Great Dane, 
a mixture of the mastiff and the hound, filled this 
need at first. They were huge, heavy animals, big- 
ger than men, with a somber and fierce look in their 
eyes that scared intruders. They had a habit of 
barring the way, silently, but steadily, and of spring- 
ing at the throats of any who were bold enough to 
challenge them. Many stories are told of their cour- 
age and devotion. One of them watched over his mas- 
ter all night, when he lay wounded on a battlefield. 
Another saved his master's life by springing at the 
servant who had come to kill him. The story is also 
told of a burglar who tried to climb into a house 
which was guarded by a mastiff. The next morning 
the burglar was found outside the window, choked 
to death. 

While we still use mastiffs to guard property, we 
feel safer nowadays in entrusting children and hu- 
man beings to huge dogs of another breed, namely 



206 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

the Newfoundlands and the Saint Bernards. They 
are both splendid dogs of magnificent proportions 
and better able to endure cold and deep snow than 
any other dogs in the world. They have so gentle 
an expression in their eyes and are so patient that 
children lose their fear of them at once. They are 
the best of protectors, for they are strong and good- 
tempered. The Newfoundland has saved many a 
person from drowning, and it is too bad that his size 
makes city people feel that he is too expensive and 
too awkward to keep. He is such a real American 
dog, as you can tell from his name, with such fine 
traits that we should encourage his use. 

The St. Bernard is a Swiss dog, and also very 
famous as a life-saver, especially in the Alps. There 
the monks keep him to save travelers who get lost in 
the deep snows. These wonderful dogs carry food 
and drink strapped on their backs. When they 
have found a lost man, who is probably starved and 
numb with cold, they not only bring him food to 
revive him, but they bring him their broad backs 
on which he can ride to the monk's home and be safe. 
One very famous St. Bernard, called Barry, saved 
forty men in this way. Alas! when he found the 
forty-first, the man thought he was a wolf, and shot 
him. 

Another splendid helper was given to us in the 
sheep dog, who developed when man began to keep 
large herds of sheep. There are Belgian, English 
and German shepherd dogs. But the one we know 
best and admire most, because he is both wise and 
handsome, is the Scotch Collie. He has become a 
great favorite, and is a show-dog now. But in the 
sheep countries he is really a worker of the best sort. 
The way he can drive a herd of 3,000 sheep home at 
night from the steep mountains, separate them, and 
pen them up for the night, is a sight that makes a 
human being take off his hat to the dog. He does 



The Dog Family 207 

the work better than could six men. In the sheep 
neighborhoods there are often contests between these 
dogs to see which can bring home the sheep in the 
best manner. The dog which wins the silver cup 
becomes very famous. You may read about a most 
wonderful shepherd dog in Ollivant's Bob, Son of 
Battle. These same shepherd dogs — especially the 
Belgian and the German, which are also trained to 
help the police track criminals — were used very 
much in the war, as we shall see later. 

Another one of the working dogs is the type of 
dog that pulls loads. You often read of Belgian dogs 
pulling the milk-cart on the early morning rounds, 
and of taking his master comfortably to town. I sup- 
pose you have seen the Newfoundland or the St. 
Bernard used in the same way, only the master that 
sat in the cart was usually a small boy. The best 
example of such a puller is the Alaskan, or Eskimo, 
sledge dog. He takes the place of the horse, the 
automobile and the railroad in Northern Canada and 
Alaska. If we ever take trips to the very far North 
we shall have to sit behind a half dozen or more of 
trained Eskimo sledge dogs, who will whirl us over 
the frozen snow in record time, who will stand the 
intense cold gallantly and travel over snow crusts 
that would break under any other animal. Do you 
wonder that a dweller in that cold North takes care 
of his sledge dogs as if they were his children, and 
mourns the loss of one as almost his worst calamity? 
The story is told that a United States officer once 
found a man traveling across frozen wastes with six 
small puppies in his arms. He was half starved and 
snow-blind, but the puppies were snug and warm. 

So far we have told you of the dog types that de- 
veloped naturally out of the work that man demand- 
ed of them. There are also some freak types that 
you might almost say are man-made, for man changes 
their looks; he shapes their noses, jaws, ears, tails, 



208 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

etc., to suit himself, sometimes in ways that hurt very 
badly. In the beginning the bulldog never looked 
as he does now. He was a strong animal, with the 
particular gift of hanging on to whatever he got hold 
of, and gamely fighting to the end. He never knew 
when he was beaten. He got his name from the fact 
that he was used for baiting bulls, in a public sport. 
That is, he was shown a bull in a public square and 
taught to get a good grip on the bull's nose and hang 
on. He would hang on while the bull snorted around 
trying to toss him with his horns. Sometimes the bull 
succeeded, too, and altogether it was a nasty, bloody 
sport that should have been done away with a long 
time before it was, in 1853. It was this sport which 
started dog-trainers flattening the noses of bulldogs, 
and making the under jaw project, so they could get 
a better hold of the bull's nose. Now the bulldog's 
poor flat nose is hard to breathe through; his teeth 
do not meet well enough for him to chew his food 
well ; his legs are too bowed for swift running, so 
that almost all that is left of the strong, active dog 
is his splendid courage and his good-natured smile. 

The French bulldog that you see pictured is much 
smaller than the English, and is probably a develop- 
ment of the Spanish bulldog, which was used just as 
was the English one. Now he is used chiefly as a 
pet dog, many people liking his little flat face and 
upstanding ears, the only features that are different 
from the typical bulldog. He is a very nice little 
dog, but it seems too bad that man should spoil his 
looks, just because he has notions of what a bulldog 
must look like to be fashionable and win prizes at 
shows. 

In the recent war, it didn't much matter what 
kind of dogs were employed, so long as they were 
intelligent. All types of dogs were sent to the army, 
for war work, and many of them came home with 
service stripes and decorations, like the men. There 



The Dog Farnily 209 

were about 10,000 dogs in all— Alaskan, St. Bernards, 
Collies, terriers, and so on. They went into the 
trenches with the soldiers, cleared those dirty places 
of rats, helped their masters, and went over the top 
with them. There is no record that they ever sneaked 
off. Then they were used as sentries, to give warning 
of the enemy — not by barking, mind you, but by wig- 
wagging their tails or in some other quiet fashion. 
They could smell the enemy long before the soldiers 
could ever know danger was near. They carried 
important messages over shell-torn ground, where 
no one else could go. They could slip along with- 
out being noticed far better than could a human be- 
ing. Oftentimes a dog belonged to an officer to 
whom important orders must go. He would creep 
over a battlefield, paying no attention to the terrible 
shells and bullets, but sure to find his master, if he 
didn't get hit first. Wounds this army dog didn't 
mind: Nellie, a fox terrier, was wounded twice, 
but got to her master in a big battle. A French setter 
stayed in a shell hole by his master three days and 
nights, until they were found. Follette, a French 
dog, went a mile through the firing line to her goal, 
even though she died of her wounds later. 

Another big work the war dogs did was for the 
Red Cross. The trained St. Bernards were good 
for rescue work on the battle fields, but many other 
types were used, too. They could tell a dead soldier 
from one who was wounded, and they could track a 
person into all sorts of queer places. They usually 
carried food and bandages strapped to their backs. 
When the wounded man had helped himself, the dog 
would take his helmet or something belonging to the 
soldier back to the Red Cross men, whom he would 
direct back to where the sick man lay. Think how 
many lives we owe to these dogs. 

The Eskimo dogs proved a big help in bringing 
up food or provisions through the snow in the moun- 

14 



210 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

tains. Once in the French Alps when a troop needed 
ammunition badly and no messenger could get 
through, because of a bad blizzard, an officer hitched 
up twenty-eight sledge dogs, who returned next day 
with their fourteen sleds well loaded with powder 
and shot. So they saved the day for the French, 
and received war crosses for themselves. 

There are so many stories of clever dogs — dogs 
who act, dogs who have traveled all over the world, 
on trains and in aeroplanes, dogs of queer tastes, and 
dogs of famous kings and generals, that we could 
write books about them. But you can see how dogs 
act, on the stage and in moving pictures, for your- 
self. You can tell stories of your own dogs that 
show how intelligent they are. And you all have 
proof of their love. 

What does a dog ask in return for such gifts to 
man? Love from his master, and a little care. He 
doesn't care for the rich food, the cushioned bed, 
the fancy sweaters and blankets, the lazy life that the 
wealthy give to their dogs. He gets unhealthy and 
cross from such coddling. He wants one good, plain 
meal a day, a clean, bare place in which to sleep, and 
plenty of exercise. Then he will be healthy and 
good-natured. If you want him to sit up, shake 
hands, say "How do you do" in dog language, fetch 
you things, etc., you can easily teach him to do so 
by being patient and kind when you work with him, 
and by making him obey you. You must take time, 
and you must not let him disobey. He soon learns, 
and repays you for your work and patience by being 
a devoted friend and a real helper. 

A great United States Senator (Vest, of Mis- 
souri), one of the most eloquent of Americans, did 
not think it beneath his dignity on a certain occasion 
when a lawsuit resulted from the death of a dog, to 
pay the following tribute to all dogs, everywhere, 
in his address to the jury: 



The Dog Family 211 

Gentlemen of the Jury: The best friend a man has in this 
world maj' turn against him and become his enemy. His son or 
his daughter, that he has reared with loving care, may prove un- 
grateful. Those who are nearest and dearest to us, those whom 
we trust with our happiness and our good name, may become 
traitors to their faith. The money that a man has he may lose. 
It flies away from him, perhaps when he needs it most. A man's 
reputation may be sacrificed in a moment of ill-considered action. 
The people who are prone to fall on their knees to do us honor 
when success is with us may be the first to throw stones of malice 
when failure settles its cloud upon our heads. The only absolutely 
unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one 
that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or 
treacherous, is his dog. Gentlemen of the jury, a man's dog stands 
by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He 
will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintry winds blow and 
the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master's side. 
He will kiss the hand that has no food to oflfer, he will lick the 
wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of 
the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were 
a prince. When all other friends desert, he remains. When 
riches take wings and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant 
in his love as the sun in its journey through the heavens. If for- 
tune drives the master forth an outcast in the world, friendless 
and homeless, the faithful dog asks no higher privilege than that of 
accompanying him to guard against danger, to fight against his 
enemies. And, when the last scene of all comes, and death takes 
the master in its embrace, and his body is laid away in the cold 
ground, no matter if all other friends pursue their way, there by 
his graveside will the noble dog be found, his head between his 
paws, his eyes sad but open in alert watchfulness, faithful and true 
even to death. 



My Country 



You cannot think seriously of your country and of 
what it means to you without a peculiar sense of 
pleasure and a proud feeling of security and of per- 
sonal possession. The ideas may not come to you in 
these words, but they are a part of your being if you 
thrill with gladness when you think of the land of 
your birth. These are patriotic feelings, which link 
you with strong but invisible chains to your country. 

When you feel that you are protected in the right 
to live in comfort; that all proper liberty is guaran- 
teed to you, that under the beautiful skies of your 
native land is a power, unseen but real, to right your 
wrongs and be your champion; when you recognize 
that you yourself, when you grow up, are to be a part 
of this wonderful scheme of things as a citizen, and 
when you feel that you ought to do all you can in 
return for your great privileges, then you are patri- 
otic. You, yourself, are a little, weak atom in the 
great mass of people round about, but how strong you 
may feel when you realize you are a part of this 
powerful country that you believe to be the finest in 
the world! 

No person can force you to be patriotic; if you 
lack a sense of gratitude for those things which make 
you glad to be alive, there is no power which can 
compel you to feel differently. Good feelings spring 
up from within you; they cannot be forced into 5^our 
being. So there are people — vain, extremely selfish, 
self-centered, unfriendly folk — who are not touched 
by any higher feelings than their own selfishness. 
They are unworthy to share in the benefits a great 
nation bestows. 

A young girl had to write an essay once on "Pa- 

212 



My Country 213 

triotism." She said at the very beginning, "Patrio- 
tism is a virtue which will ever be universally ad- 
mired even by those incapable of possessing it." She 
told a great truth. Even persons of low and selfish 
desires, who seldom if ever experience lofty emotions, 
nearly always, deep down in their souls, wish they 
were like the higher type of people around them. 

You can be of mighty little good in connection 
with anything worth while if you think of nobody 
but yourself all of the time, or even most of the time. 
It is very wrong to assume that attitude; there is no 
excuse for it. You are so dependent upon things out- 
side of yourself that it is practically impossible to 
live without the help of unseen forces and of the 
people who surround you. You owe heavy obliga- 
tions to all of these. 

Let us see about this debt we owe. A certain 
secret society which teaches right living says that 
one's first duty is allegiance (or service) to God; 
next, allegiance to your country, then to your family, 
later to your neighbor and, lastly, to yourself. Most 
people agree that this statement sums up our duty. 
If you agree, see how small you and I thus become 
personally in the great plan of life. 

Is it right to put the needs of the family — father, 
mother, brothers, sisters — below the demands of your 
country? Yes, because if the nation is in danger, mil- 
lions of families may be made to suffer, and millions 
of families are more important than one family — 
even your family. 

Would father leave you and mother and go to 
war to save the land from a foreign foe? Yes, for if 
an enemy should conquer, even the home might 
perish. If father gives his life in such a cause, as 
millions of fathers have done, and the- country is 
saved, father makes his sacrifice that the country may 
continue to protect those he leaves behind. He goes 
not only for the good of his own loved ones, but to 



214 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

help all other families, too; that is the highest pa- 
triotism. 

Any motive which prompts you to serve your 
country even in humble ways is a patriotic motive. 
Patriotism may be expressed in slight acts by little 
folks as well as in great heroic feats by strong men 
and brave women. You and your playmates can 
keep the alleys free from unsightly and unhealthful 
material; you can be reasonably thrifty, for to save 
and not to squander recklessly is a patriotic duty; you 
can refuse to patronize bad moving pictures, for cor- 
rupt morals kill patriotic feelings ; you can set a good 
example before the playmate who refuses to give 
other boys and girls their rights, and thus teach that 
there is such a thing as brotherhood; you can keep 
yourself clean and worthy to salute the flag of your 
country whenever you see it "fair floating in the 
breeze." If you are a good citizen as a boy or girl, 
and do those things from choice which make your 
home and neighborhood better you will do naturally 
greater things which will make your country better 
when you become men and women. 

Your nation needs patriotic men and women. Can 
you imagine what utter ruin would result in a few 
years if nobody gave one thought to the good of our 
common country but, on the contrary, looked only 
to his own selfish interests? You have heard unkind 
things said about so-called "reformers." These are 
generally men and women who are trying to keep 
our country from danger of destruction through law- 
less acts of a class who care for nothing unless they 
are going to reap a personal benefit, no matter at 
whose expense; to such men patriotism has absolutely 
no meaning. Do you not despise the attitude of a 
man who sneers at your government and who tries 
to get men to help him destroy it — then cries to that 
same government for protection when he gets into 
trouble? 



My Country 215 

Remember that you can never get something for 
nothing. You have to pay in some measure for every 
benefit you enjoy; you cannot go through life and 
amount to anything without returning to your nation 
a part of what you get from it. But if you paid full 
value for what you receive in all manner of good 
things you could never get enough money together 
to square the account. 

Do you get the idea that you get more than you 
give? It is exactly so. We organize as communities 
to provide for our public needs, and each receives 
full benefit personally from what the community ac- 
complishes. Let us illustrate. You are given a good 
education through the kindergarten, the common 
school and the high school, without one cent of cost 
for buildings or for teachers' services, unless your 
father owns property; if he is a landowner he pays a 
very few dollars a year for schools — not one one- 
hundredth of the value that you get back in educa- 
tion. Your father and other fathers on your street 
might hire a man to protect their property — if they 
could afford to pay quite a large sum for the service; 
the city policeman patrols your street and protects 
you whether you pay anything for the service or not. 
All owners of property are taxed for all the machin- 
ery of government, by which benefits and rights are 
secured to a value really beyond estimate, and that 
same protection extends to all people, regardless of 
their ability to pay for it. 

But the obligation of people to their government 
does not cease when they pay their taxes. They m.ust 
do their full duty to maintain that government in a 
high state of efficiency, that their individual welfare 
may not sufifer. They must send good men to make 
the laws under which they are to live ; they must 
realize that it is almost a sacred duty to vote at every 
election, and to give their votes only to men in whom 
they have confidence ; they must uphold the officers 



216 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

of the law in all efforts looking to the public good. 
These are some of the things properly due from us 
in return for all the valuable public gifts showered 
upon us. 

There is enough evidence of the greatness of 
your government right around you every day to make 
you feel proud of your country. Then as you extend 
your view as you grow older and wiser and realize 
what it means to be a citizen and a working partner 
in your state and in the nation there will be found a 
thousand added reasons for thankfulness that you are 
an American. The man who wrote the following 
poem felt as you and I ought to feel, to-day and 
every day: 

America! Mine! 

Ay, comrades and thine. 
Thy very name ripples with music, and rolls 
Like the oceans that surge 'twixt the mystical poles. 

Land of great Boone, 

Of Marion, Wayne; 
Of Hamilton, Jefferson, Washington, Blaine, 
Of thousands that lived and died all too soon; 
Who beat out broad paths for new feet to tread. 
From the time when the first white man met the first red, 
Down to Crocket's and Bowie's, they of the band 
Who for liberty died by the old Rio Grande! 
The Alamo forget not, nor for what that band died. 
While reason sits throned in its glorious pride. 
And worship our Kearneys, our Grants — and the brave 
Who enriched the old earth the old Union to save ! 

My dear native land ! 

I lift my right hand. 
With my left on my heart, and my eyes to the skies, 

And my soul on my tongue, 
While I list to the breezes that, mayhap, have sung 
Round the world since the dawn of creation tore the veil 
of the long night apart, — 



My Country 217 

My very heart cries : 
To be born in thee, be of thee, breathe thy sweet air, 
To die in thee, rest in thee, under the glare 
Of the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and the folds 
Of the stars and bars of thy banner, which holds 
Over all, that which monarchs despise: 
Liberty, brotherhood, union, and all. 

Here on the sod. 

Under night's pall, 

I cry out : Thank God ! 



America! Mine! 

Ay, any man's — thine! 
Thine from the jungle, from Africa's plain; 
From the knout, from the chain ; 
From the land where the mothers of conscripts' tears flow 

Like the rain. 
When the flesh of their flesh and the bone of their bone 

march away to fight, wound, and be slain ; 
From the fair land of Austria, Itah^ Spain ; 

From Erin, whose woe 
Fills the hearts of republics with horror and pain. 

This land of the free is for thee! 
Live in it, work in it, love in it, weep in it, 
Laugh in it, sing in it, die in it, sleep in it! 

For it's free, and for thee, and for me, 
The fairest 
And rarest 

That man ever trod ; 

The sweetest and dearest 
'Twixt the sky and the sod, 

And its mine. 

And it's thine, 

Thank God! 



The Meaning of Flags 



A little boy stood with his mother on the deck of 
a great steamship as it approached the American 
shore after a pleasant voyage across the ocean from 
Europe. Suddenly he straightened, and pointing 
eagerly at an object waving in the breeze on the 

shore, exclaimed "Oh, 
mother! Look! There's 
our flag!" His words 
rang with pride, and 
his joyous laughter was 
a delight to men and 
women standing near. 
The flag of his 
country, and your 
country and mine, dear 
boys and girls, was 
floating from a staff in 
front of a small build- 
ing on an island which 
was some miles from 
the harbor entrance. 
The little boy had seen 
flags like this one many times in his life before he 
went abroad; he had just returned from lands 
where other flags waved as grandly and were 
viewed as proudly. The flags of England and France 
and Italy he had observed, but they had made no 
particular impression on him. Why was he so stirred 
at sight of the red, white and blue of the flag of the 
United States? Had he been asked, he would have 
said, "Because it's mine, and I love it!" without be- 
ing able to put his reasons into words. But behind 
it all there dwelt in his young consciousness a feel- 

218 




'There's Our Flag" 



Tlie Meaning of Flags 219 

ing that his flag stands for something so big, so good, 
so noble that almost everything else is unimportant 
by comparison. He knew that his father had bought 
a flag for him for a few pennies, but he also knew 
(for his father had explained it to him) that those 
few pennies meant little in really valuing the flag, 
for before it had meant anything to anybody it had 
cost more than can ever be told in money, in sacri- 
fice, in loss of life of many thousands of brave men. 
It became our flag and his flag only because our 
fathers and grandfathers and their fathers and grand- 
fathers had made it theirs through hardship, suffer- 
ing and death, and had passed the priceless symbol 
of freedom, purchased at such cost, down to us. 

Is a piece of bunting, colored with red and white 
stripes with a field of blue dotted with stars, some- 
thing to make men willing to die for? In every war 
before the last one, in 1914, when men went into 
battle they carried their flags before them, regiment 
by regiment, into the hottest fight. The enemy al- 
ways tried to kill the standard bearer, believing that 
if the flag fell its followers might waver, then turn 
and run. When they succeeded in hitting the man 
who bore the flag, however, always a companion 
eagerly would grasp it and wave it high to inspire 
anew the fighting ranks! When no command could 
thrill the soldier, how his spirits would rise on sight 
of his country's flag floating a defiance in the face of 
the enemy. We know these facts are a part of his- 
tory, but why will a person sacrifice himself, if need 
be, dying willingly for his flag? The little boy of 
our story cannot tell why, but he gets something of 
the idea; he knows he would want to punish another 
boy who spoke ill of his country's flag or who by 
any act insulted it. There is some feeling within 
him which makes him understand that when that 
banner no longer means anything to him nothing else 



220 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



is going to mean much. The banner is only an oblong 
of cloth, a piece of bunting or of silk, lifted into the 
air, but it is radiantly colored, and every color has a 
voice. Its thirteen stripes, of alternate red and white, 
proclaim the original union of thirteen states to 
whom we owe our independence. Each of its stars, 
now forty-eight in number, represents a state. To- 
gether they typify union, past and present. The very 
colors have a language, recognized officially by the 
early patriots — red for valor, white for purity, blue 
for justice. "All together," said Charles Sumner, 
"bunting, stripes, stars and colors, blazing in the sky, 
make the flag of our country, to be cherished by all 
our hearts, to be upheld by all our hands." 

The First Flag on American Soil. Would 

you like to know what 
the first flag looked 
like that was flung to 
the breeze on this side 
of the ocean? It was 
the banner of Colum- 
bus, a design made per- 
sonally by him, which 
he carried with the flag 
of Spain. A picture of 
these flags, the first to 
catch the American 
breeze, is given on this 
page. The shaded lines 
running diagonally 
mark bright red parts; 
the castles and the two 
crowns are yellow, like 
gold; the lions are also 
red, on a white back- 
ground. The Colum- 
_ ^ ^ bus pennant below and 

Above : The Flag of Spain , ^ . , 

Below: The Banner of Columbus the CrOSS StlCK are 




The Meaning of Flags 221 

white, with yellow tips; cord and upper border are 
yellow; the cross and the F and Y, for Ferdinand 
and Isabella (Ysabel) are green. 

Early American Flags. Each colony in Amer- 
ica was at first independent of all others, and various 
flags were designed to represent them. These natur- 
ally were patterned in some degree after the English 
standards, with the English cross conspicuous in some 
of them. After 1750 the spirit of independence 
among the colonies was reflected in many banners. 
South Carolina adopted a yellow flag with a rattle- 
snake coiled in the center, and below the warning, 
"Don't tread on me!" The earliest flag to assert in- 
dependence was also raised in South Carolina ; it was 
solid blue with a crescent moon in the upper left 
corner and in the center the word "Liberty." The 
pine-tree flag was one of the first in America, it hav- 
ing come into favor in New England as early as 1704. 
In one form it was a blue flag with white field, on 
which was the red cross of St. George, with the green 
tree in the first quarter. Another form showed a 
green tree centered on a white surface, with "An 
Appeal to Heaven" above. New York's early ban- 
ner was white, with a black beaver in the center. 
There were numerous others, most of them not so 
well known to us now. 

The Birth of the American Flag. In June, 
1776, George Washington was called from New 
York to Philadelphia to confer with Congress on 
public afi^airs, and he was one of a committee of 
three to design a flag for the new nation which had 
then been fighting for a year for its independence. 
Washington knew of the skill of Mrs. John Ross 
(Elizabeth, familiarly called "Betsy"), and the com- 
mittee visited her at 239 Arch Street — the building 
still stands as a Ross Memorial. A rough design was 
shown, and Mrs. Ross suggested alterations, which 



222 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



were accepted; one of these was the change from 
six-pointed to five-pointed stars. The "Betsy Ross 

flag" is shown in the il- 
lustration. Mrs. Ross 
was appointed flag- 
maker for the govern- 
ment, and continued in 
that position for many 
years. 

Rules Governing 
THE Flag. The fol- 
lowing regulations 
have been adopted for 
use of the American 
flag: 

The Flag should 
not be raised before 
sunrise and should be 
lowered at sunset, but 
may fly at all times 
during war. 

On Memorial 
Day. May 30th, the National Flag should be dis- 
played at half staff until noon, then hoisted to the top 
of the staff, where it remains until sunset. 

Colors on Parade. When the colors are passing 
on parade, or in review, the spectator should, if walk- 
ing, halt; if sitting, arise, stand at attention. Men 
should remove their hats; women should place the 
right hand over the heart, stand erect and fix the 
eyes straight ahead. 

When Portrayed. The flag when portrayed by 
an illustrative process should always have the staff 
so placed that it is at the left of the picture, the fabric 
floating to the right. In crossing the flag with that 
of another nation, the American flag should be at 
the right. 




The "Betsy Ross Flag' 



The Meaning of Flags 223 

Used as a Banner. When the flag is used as a 
banner, the blue field should fly to the north in streets 
or roads running east and west, and to the east in 
streets or roads running north and south. 

Used on a Coffin. When the flag is placed over 
a coffin, the blue field should be at the head. 

Desecration of the Flag. No advertisement 
or lettering of any sort may ever be placed upon the 
flag, nor may it ever be used as a trade-mark. It 
should not be worn as the whole or part of a costume, 
and when worn as a badge it should be small and 
pinned over the left breast or to the left collar lapel. 

Displaying the Flag. The flag, out of doors, 
should be flown from a pole whenever possible. In 
the United States Army all flags are suspended from 
poles and in no other way. 

Used in Decorations. When the flag is hung 
vertically (so it can be viewed from one side only) 
the blue field should be at the right, as one faces it. 
When hung horizontally the field should be at the 
left. The flag should never be placed below a per- 
son sitting. 

When the Flag Should Be Flown. Either 
by order or custom the flag is flown on the following 
days, to commemorate the events of the years named: 

October 12, 1492 

Discovery of America by Columbus 

November 11, 1918. .Armistice Day, or Liberty Day 

December 22, 1620 Landing of the Pilgrims 

December 25 Christmas 

January 1 New Year's Day 

February 12, 1809. . . .Birthday of Abraham Lincoln 
February 22, 1732. .Birthday of George Washington 

May 30 Memorial Day 

July 4, 1776. .Declaration of Independence Adopted 



224 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Labor Day First Monday in September 

Mother's Day Second Sunday in May 

Arbor Day and Bird Day 

Vary according to the locality 

Thanksgiving Day. . . .Last Thursday in November 
Presidential Election Day First Tuesday after 

the first Monday in November, in even-numbered 

years, divisible by four. 

Poems on the Flag. The red, white and blue 
banner of our country awakens our patriotic devo- 
tion, and no poems thrill the heart more than those 
dedicated to the flag. Boys and girls should commit 
to memory one or more of these, and of the great 
number which might be printed we choose the fol- 
lowing as among the best: 



The Flag Is Passing By 

Hats off! 
Along the street there comes 
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, 
A flash of color beneath the sky. 

Hats off! 
The flag is passing by. 

Blue and crimson and white it shines, 
Over the steel tipped ordered lines. 

Hats off! 
The colors before us fly, 
But more than the flag is passing by. 

Hats off! 
Along the street there comes 
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, 
And loyal hearts are beating high. 

Hats off! 
The flag is passing by. 



The Meaning of Flags 225 

Your Flag and My Flag 

Your flag and my flag, 

And how it flies today 
In your land and my land 

And half a world away! 

Rose-red and blood-red 

The stripes forever gleam; 
Snow-white and soul-white — 

The good forefathers' dream. 

Sky-blue and true-blue, 

With stars to gleam' aright — 
The gloried guidon of the day, 

A shelter through the night. 



God Save the Flag 

Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming. 
Snatched from the altars of insolent foes, 

Burning with star-fires, but never' consuming. 
Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose. 

Vainly the prophets of Baal would rend it, 
Vainly his worshipers pray for its fall ; 

Thousands have died for it, millions defend it, ~ 
Emblem of justice and mercy to all. 

Justice that reddens the sky with her terrors, 

]\Iercy that comes with her white-handed train. 

Soothing all passions, redeeming all errors, 
Sheathing the sabre and breaking the chain. 

Borne on the deluge of old usurpations, 
Drifted our Ark o'er the desolate seas, 

Bearing the rainbow of hope to the nations. 

Torn from the storm-cloud and flung to the breeze ! 

God bless the Flag and its loyal defenders. 

While its broad folds o'er the battle-field wave. 

Till the dim star-wreath rekindle its splendors. 

Washed from its stains in the blood of the brave ! 

15 



226 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

THE BRITISH FLAG 

When a thoughtful person beholds a nation's flag 
he sees not the flag only, but the nation itself. What- 
ever may be its form or whatever symbols may be 
displayed he notes more than form and colors, for 
he reads in it the government and something of the 
history of the country. We realized the truth of this 
statement in the story of the flag of the United States. 
The same is strikingly true of that of Great Britain. 

To-day it is the proud boast of Englishmen that 
the sun never sets on the British flag; this is true, 
because the possessions of Great Britain encircle the 
globe. Wherever the authority of the English nation 
is recognized the Union Jack floats to the breeze; it 
is the one flag in all the world you would see most 
frequently in a trip across the seven seas. It waves 
proudly not only in the British Isles, but in Canada, 
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and in hun- 
dreds of islands dotting the oceans. And everywhere 
the people are as devoted to it as Americans are to 
the "Stars and Stripes." When the great World War 
broke out in 1914 Canada, Australia, New Zealand 
and South Africa had no part in the complications 
which caused it, but the mother country was threat- 
ened, their flag had been assaulted, and each of these 
great parts of the Empire followed the banner of 
British freedom into the heaviest of the fight and 
remained a part of the English strength to the end. 

What is the Union Jack? Why called Union and 
why Jack? 

One of the earliest flags of the present British 
Isles— and the earliest of those that have survived, 
even in part, is the cross of Saint George, a white 
flag with a rectangular red cross along its entire 
length and height, dividing the white into four equal 
areas (see illustration 1). In 1603, under James I, 
England and Scotland came under one sovereign, but 



Tlie Meaning of Flags 



227 




Cross of Saint George Saint Andrew^s Cross 

The King's Colors 
Cross of Saint Patrick The Union Jack 

were not politically united until the next reign. Then 
George's cross was joined with the cross of Saint 
Andrew of Scotland, to form what became known 
as the "King's Colors." The cross of Saint Andrew- 
is a blue flag with diagonal white stripes (shown in 
illustration 2). The combination of these two flags, 
making the "King's Colors," is shown in illustration 



228 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

3 ; it has a field of blue with the rectangular red 
cross and the diagonal white cross, the red all show- 
ing and the white broken at the points where they 
meet. 

After King Charles I was beheaded in 1649 the 
union of England and Scotland was dissolved; 
then each returned to its original standard — Saint 
George's cross w^as again the English flag and Saint 
Andrew's, the Scottish. In 1707 the kingdom of 
Great Britain, comprising England, Scotland and 
Wales was formed, not again to be divided, and a 
new flag appeared, called the "Meteor Flag." It 
was a red ensign, with the crosses of Saint George 
and Saint Andrew, the "King's Colors," in the field 
(see illustration 3). This was the emblem of the 
kingdom and its colonies until 1801, when Ireland 
was added to the union, to be known thereafter as 
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Ireland's flag had featured the cross of Saint Patrick, 
a diagonal red cross on a white background. This 
cross was added to the nation's flag, covering in part 
the white cross of Saint Andrew. Saint Patrick's 
cross was narrowed, that it might not entirely cover 
the white, and broken; the arms below the hori- 
zontal part of Saint George's cross show more white 
below the red than appears above it; above the cen- 
tral horizontal red the wider white diagonal appears 
above the Saint Patrick arm (see illustration 5). 

The British flag thus historically portrays the 
union of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, so 
the word Union in its name is accounted for. The 
word Jack is supposed to be from the Latin Jacobus, 
which in English means James, and James I was on 
the English throne when the first political union was 
formed. 

The naval flag of Great Britain is red, with the 
Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner, a location 



The Meaning of Flags 229 

similar to that of the stars on the blue field in the 
American flag. 

The Flag of France. Most nations, by varying 
forms of their flag and by addition or elimination of 
symbols, represent different arms of their govern- 
ment service. This is true of the United States and 
Great Britain, but France is an exception to the rule. 
The great French Republic flies only one flag — the 
loved tricolor, three horizontal stripes of red, white 
and blue, signifying liberty, fraternity, equality. 
This flag was born when the kings of France were 
driven out and a government of the people was 
established. 

Other Flags. The colors red, white and blue 
are favored more than any others by the nations of the 
world for representation on their flags, and some of 
them have adopted the three horizontal bars, simi- 
lar to the French tricolor but with different order of 
the colors. Yellow and green appear on numerous 
flags; Italy's is one-third green, the section next to 
the staff; Brazil'^ is largely green and yellow; Por- 
tugal's is nearly one-half green. Black comprises 
one-third of the flags of Belgium and Germany. 



Insects 



An insect is an animal, even though it be as 
small as the head of a pin, for an animal is any living 
thing which possesses some or all of the senses and 
has the power of motion. This is probably some- 
thing new for you to think about, for it may never 
have occurred to you that a little creature so tiny that 
you can scarcely see it is called by the same common 
name that you give to the horse or the elephant. 

Also we want to tell you that over half of the ani- 
mals of the world are insects — that there are more of 
them than of all other forms of animal life com- 
bined. How many insects are there in the world? 
You might almost as reasonably ask how many drops 
of water there are in the sea! Learned men say there 
are between five million and ten million different 
kinds or species of them, and there are countless 
millions of each species. 

Not all of the little, crawling things you see are 
insects. Under this name are only the myriads of 
living creatures consisting of three parts — head, 
thorax (chest) and abdomen — and whose body is 
composed of segments. The head has not less than six 
segments, the thorax has three, and the abdomen 
from ten to twelve. There are three pairs of legs 
and two pairs of wings on such specimens as are not 
wingless. 

From the above very brief description it will be 
seen that the spider and its relatives, all of which have 
eight legs, and the centipede, with about thirty pairs 
of legs, and a few other small bodies are not insects, 
but belong to other branches of the animal kingdom. 

How Insects Develop. The young of some are 
brought into existence alive and perfectly formed, 

230 



Insects 231 

but a great many species develop from eggs and un- 
dergo remarkable changes of form before they reach 
the adult stage. This process of development is 
called complete metamorphosis (met-a-mor'-fo-sis) — 
a long and hard word which means change of form 
and structure. In complete metamorphosis in the 
different changes there is no resemblance in the vari- 
ous stages of development. In incomplete metamor- 
phosis the insect hatched from the egg has the 
general form of the adult and develops without en- 
tering a quiet intermediate stage. We shall refer 
briefly to the wonders of the complete change of 
form and structure. 

The Various Stages of Metamorphosis. The 
insect egg is of course a very tiny thing, best observed 
through a microscope. Eggs are usually laid in 
clusters and when they hatch the young take the form 
of a caterpillar, worm or grub, whose scientific name 
is larva. The larva grows day by day and within 
a short time the outer soft covering is thrown off and 
the next stage of development shows the insect in 
what is known as the pupa stage. This is a stage or 
period of quiet; instead of a soft, pulpy mass such 
as the larval stage discloses, the pupa has a harder 
shell or covering, or is enclosed in a cocoon, and 
its form is often more like that of the insect which 
is soon to develop. To the observer the pupa ap- 
pears lifeless, but in time the outer covering is broken 
and the perfect insect, called the imago, appears. 

In the picture presented here we show you the 
marvelous development of the monarch butterfly. 
The figure a is the egg, very much enlarged ; b is the 
caterpillar (larva) form which develops from the 
tgg'^ c is the somewhat harder-cased pupa, also 
known as the chrysalid; from this develops the gor- 
geous butterfly which you so much admire as it clings 
airily to the tip of a beautiful flower or rests on a 
leaf. 



232 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Why Do Insects Exist? We ask that question 
because so many children ask it, but we cannot give 
the entire answer, nor can anyone give it, so far as 
we know. We think of them only as pests, and this 
is true of a very great number of species, but even 
the pests serve us a good purpose. You learn from 
the article on birds in this book that our feathered 
friends eat literally millions of insects. If birds 
could not find insect food they would be obliged to 
hunt another bill of fare, and who could blame them 
in such an extremity for attacking our growing 
crops? So may we say that one use of insects is to 
furnish food for the birds? 

Some authorities state that were it not for de- 
structive insects vegetation would be so luxuriant 
that all plant life would be so crowded together that 
it would die for lack of nourishment. This may 
not be wholly true. 

Destructive Insects. Many insects are terribly 
destructive. It costs the United States many hundred 
million dollars a year to run the government, but we 
get something of value for this huge expenditure. 
Insects destroy crops every year to a value in dollars 
exceeding the expenses of government, and we get 
nothing except discouragement from the fact. 

The cotton boll weevil takes out of southern plant- 
ers' pockets about $25,000,000 a year, for it destroys 
cotton which would sell for that sum if it could grow 
unmolested. 

The army worm is one of the hungriest of in- 
sects and its particular delicacies are hay and other 
like crops. Gazing upon a picture of this insect 
as shown on our colored panel picture can you 
readily believe that it causes $30,000,000 a year 
loss to farmers? It was named the army worm be- 
cause it and its fellows march across the country in 
great masses like an army, devouring everything in 
their path. The colored panel illustration shows 



Insects 233 

the worm and the moth from which it develops. 
Working with this pest are the corn cutworm, the 
earworm and other crop destroyers who add over 
$60,000,000 yearly to the losses of the farms. 

The chinch bug is the greatest enemy of growing 
wheat; although but about one-sixth of an inch in 
length these bugs eat $20,000,000 worth of wheat 
every year in the United States alone, and later in tlie 
season they feast on corn. Each female lays about 
500 eggs twice each year, and most of them hatch. 
You can see how hard is the task of getting rid of 
them all; it simply cannot be done, even though the 
birds eat millions of them and farmers take all known 
preventive measures. 

The codling moth is another insect expensive to 
agriculture to the amount of $20,000,000 yearly in 
the United States. The moth doesn't do any dam- 
age, as a moth, but in the changes which occur in its 
development from the egg, we find the larva, or cater- 
pillar, to be the real enemy. The mother moth lays 
her eggs deep in apple-tree blossoms. When the 
'flower disappears and the little apple commences to 
grow the larva of the moth, a little, hungry gray- 
brown worm, eats its way into the center and the 
apple is ruined. The worm spins its cocoon, and 
from it the complete insect, the moth, emerges in a 
few weeks, ready to begin as did its parents the work 
of laying other eggs to be hatched in time for its 
larva to attack late apples. 

Grasshoppers and locusts are dreaded insect ene- 
mies, for not infrequently they descend in mighty 
swarms upon growing crops and totally destroy them. 
In the years 1874 to 1876 farmers in Nebraska and 
Colorado were brought near to starvation because 
their crops were destroyed by these pests. 

The grasshopper and the locust are interesting 
insects to study. The ear is located just above the 
spot where the leg joins the body. There are two 



234 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

little eyes and two much larger compound eyes. 
They have no vocal organs, although they make mu- 
sical sounds with which every child is familiar. The 
grasshopper, like the cricket, makes its characteristic 
sound by rubbing together its forewings. The locust 
produces its "music" by scraping the inner surface 
of its thigh across the rough surface of its forewings. 
They have been known to travel in great numbers 
more than a thousand miles in a season. We may 
thank the birds for the fact that grasshoppers and 
locusts are not so plentiful that they can destroy all 
crops. Birds eat them in astonishing numbers. 

The very names of certain insects tell us of their 
dangerous character. So we know what to expect 
from the presence of the asparagus beetle, cabbage 
worm, cucumber beetle, potato beetle, and the like. 

The gypsy moth in its caterpillar stage is very 
destructive. It will strip forest trees of their leaves 
and make bare fruit trees, vines and shrubs. The 
New England states have spent several million dol- 
lars in campaigns to destroy these moths, and have 
met with considerable success. 

The May beetle, or June bug, is so named because 
it is most common in those months. They prefer to 
work nights rather than in daylight, and they eat 
leaves of trees and shrubs. In the caterpillar stage 
these bugs live in the ground at least a 3^ear and live 
on the roots of grass and small plants. 

The click beetle gets its name from a snapping 
sound which it produces by a quick movement of its 
parts, by which it can project itself some distance 
into the air. It has a way of falling to the ground 
as if dead if touched or alarmed. Boys and girls 
know this insect best by the name of "snapping. bug." 
Cubans once wore dead click beetles on their clothing 
as ornaments. The young of this beetle is the wire- 
worm, which destroys seeds and roots. 

The cutworm is a villain, for he hides by day and 



Insects * 235 

works only at night. After dark he emerges from 
the ground and feeds on the stalks of plants, cutting 
them ofif at the ground level. Sometimes these pests 
become so numerous that they can destroy an entire 
garden in a single night. 

The walking stick, which belongs to the locust 
family, is hard to find, because it looks almost exactly 
like the twigs and branches to which it clings. It 
eats the leaves of trees and plants. The yellow 
jacket feeds upon the juices of ripe fruit and thus 
causes some damage, but he pays for it by killing 
grubs and other destructive insects. 

Lastly, the cockroach is hated, for he is a dirty 
scamp who enters our homes. We do not give much 
thought to some insects for they live outdoors and 
do not cause us personal trouble or inconvenience. 
But the cockroach comes to live with us. A very 
few cockroaches in a home will speedily increase to 
a great number. They will enter a house by a water 
pipe or through crevices and go from floor to floor 
by the same means. They seldom show themselves 
in daylight, but at night they emerge and in the search 
for food swarm over kitchen, pantry and sink and 
contaminate everything they touch. No one has ever 
satisfactorily answered the question, ''Why is a cock- 
roach?" 

Beneficial Insects. Can you believe that some 
insects never do any harm, but, on the contrary, are 
actually of value? After reading of so many that 
are destructive, you may doubt this, but it is true. 

Look at the ladybird beetle on the chart panel. 
Not only is it a pretty little thing, but care is taken 
in many localities to protect it, for it feeds almost 
exclusively upon plant lice and scale insects, which 
are destructive. 

The tiger beetle, in its larval stage, is a "home- 
body," for it does not stray from its burrow in the 
ground. It lives on insects which it catches when 



236 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

they pass its habitation. In the adult stage they are 
lively and are strong fighters, from which fact they 
get their name. 

The dragon fly prefers one delicacy in the line of 
food, and that is mosquitoes. During the day dragon 
flies are constantly on the wing hunting this house- 
hold pest. If they flew at night there would be 
fewer mosquitoes. Boys call these insects "devils' 
darning needles," and very young boys and girls are 
told that "they will sew up your ears." But they 
soon learn that this is not so. This insect is entirely 
harmless, and is really beneficial in destroying mo- 
squitoes and gnats. 

The soldier bug lives its life on plants and en- 
gages in the business of hunting insects for food. For- 
tunately he destroys vast numbers of those that are 
a menace to gardens and fields, and hence is a bene- 
ficial little creature. 

The great beetle which boys and girls commonly 
call the "pinching bug" is properly known as the 
stag beetle. The name was given it because of the 
length and shape of its hornlike projections. The 
eggs appear as small white balls; the larvae live 
in holes bored in the bark and trunks of trees, some- 
times as long as five or six years, before emerging 
as adult beetles. They live on sap and the honey 
dew secreted by aphids and scale insects. 

The Bees. Bumble bees and honey bees are 
among the most useful insects. Boys and girls know 
that we get all our honey from honey bees and that 
they work very industriously to supply us with that 
delicacy. But of what value is the bumble bee? It 
is a pretty little creature, clothed in yellow and black, 
but we do not wish it to come near us, for it has a 
very painful sting. No wonder the poet calls it an 
''animated torrid zone"! 

In the article on flowers we are told that a flower 
could not grow and reproduce itself unless pollen 



Insects 237 

from its own stamens or from the stamens of other 
flowers is brought to its pistil. Each flower manu- 
factures a sweet substance called nectar, for the pur- 
pose of attracting bees, moths and other insects. 
They visit the flowers in search of nectar and the 
pollen from the blossoms is rubbed on their feet and 
legs, then is carried to the next flower visited and is 
left on the sticky pistil. The flower is thus fertilized. 

Not all insects can reach the pollen of every 
flower. The honey bee is never seen working on red 
clover, for the blossom is so large that it cannot reach 
the nectar; it always seeks the smaller white clover. 
The larger bumble bee, however, with its longer 
tongue, seeks the red clover and carries the pollen 
from one blossom to another. 

If there were no bumble bees we would have no 
red clover. This was proved in Australia. Red 
clover seed was planted in that country, but the sec- 
ond year the crop was a failure; the seed from the 
first crop was not fertile, because no agency was 
present to carry the pollen from stamens to pistils. 
A great many bumble bees were imported, and there- 
after the clover crop was plentiful. 

An entire book of the size of this one you are now 
reading could be filled with interesting facts regard- 
ing bumble bees and honey bees. You can get such 
books from your library. 

The Ants. Ants are known as social insects, 
that is, they do not live alone, but in great colonies 
comprising from 2,000 to 10,000 or more individuals. 
Each colony is composed of three kinds of ants — 
males, females and workers. The latter are unde- 
veloped females, and are more numerous than males 
and females together. Males do not live long, for 
in ant life no individual who does not continue to 
benefit his colony can be allowed to *'hang around." 
Males and females mate in the air while flying on 
their gauzy wings; soon after their return to the 



238 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

nest the males die and the females, never again to 
fly, tear off or rub off their wings and thereafter 
give themselves to tgg laying. The young ants are 
tended by the workers until they arc able to care for 
themselves. 

Some writers declare that ants are endowed with 
intelligence; what they possess in this direction is 
really rare instinct. But surely their well-ordered 
community life leads us to believe that they do many 
things better than some affairs are conducted by 
human beings endowed with judgment and a good 
degree of intelligence. 

An ant which will not do its full share of work 
is driven from the colony or killed. When the 
Biblical writer said, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; 
consider her ways and be wise," he pointed to one 
of the greatest examples of untiring industry that the 
world ever witnessed. 

If you will secure a book on ants from your public 
library you will find it as interesting as a novel. 



Flowers 



There is magic in the very word "Flowers"! At 
its sound we see at once damp spring woods, with 
early violets in shady hollows and jack-in-the-pulpits 
preaching to waving grasses; buttercups in sunny 
patches, pale yellow primroses in the hedges and near 
the ditches; gorgeous tulips, delicate daffodils and 
the proud narcissus in the garden; dandelions on 
the lawns. Or we may think of florists' shops with 
purple-red American Beauty roses, their stems as tall 
as we are, their price a dollar a blossom ! Or of pure- 
white Easter lilies, pansies with enameled faces, moss 
roses sheltered from the wind, tiger lilies dazzling 
the eyes, magnolias sending out overpowering per- 
fume from their white velvet blossoms, and fringed 
carnations spicing the garden paths. Then we shall 
think of autumn, gold, brown and red, the fields and 
roadsides yellow with golden-rod, purple with asters 
and red with fiery leaves and berries. Spring, sum- 
mer, autumn, each is jeweled with its gem-like flow- 
ers, even winter bearing on its white bosom the green 
and red holly, and the yellow green mistletoe. Flow- 
ers! They speak a language which even a babe may 
understand. 

There is added magic in each flower-name if we 
know what the poets and story writers, what the old 
legends and fairy tales, tell us about each flower. 
We are going to explore among the flowers to-day 
and learn something of their story. 

The Rose. From the beginning the rose has 
been the "queen of flowers," the best beloved of all. 
Our heathen Northern ancestors, the very ancient 
Scandinavians, made it the flower of Frigga, or 
Freya, who was their loveliest goddess, beautiful and 

239 



240 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

sweet, the goddess of love and spring. The old 
Greeks and Romans, too, made it the flower of the 
goddess of love and beauty, whom they called Venus. 
They tell in a myth which has come down to us how 
the rose was once white only; but Venus loved 
Adonis, a beautiful youth who was slain b}'' a wild 
boar; as she ran to help him, she pricked her foot 
on a thorn, dyeing the rose red, a color it has had 
since. Of course such a story would not do for our 
Christian forefathers, so they tell another tale — how 
the red roses sprang from some burning brands that 
were put out just in time to save a beautiful Chris- 
tian girl from death by fire. They also tell how the 
rose of Jericho sprang up everywhere that Mary and 
Joseph rested on their flight into Egypt with the in- 
fant Jesus. So after that, the rose was dedicated to 
the Virgin Mary, and prayers to her were said on 
the rosary, which may mean that every prayer was 
a rose, or that for beads the smooth, hard rose hips 
or seed pods were used. 

Perhaps the most beautiful story of the rose is told 
by the Persians, who have a sacred book called the 
"Garden of Roses" and a festival called the "Feast 
of the Roses." They say that the nightingale is the 
lover of the rose; that when he sings his plaintive 
melody the rose opens; that he hovers over her till 
he faints with her sweetness; and that he sings his 
saddest song when the roses are gathered. 

Our lovely flower figures much in history, too. 
There was once in England a "War of the Roses," 
when the soldiers under one leader wore red roses on 
their helmets and those under the other wore white. 
And a legend tells us that because the war was ended 
by the Prince of the Red Rose marrying the Princess 
of the White Rose, the bushes that year bore roses of 
both colors, and roses of mingled red and white! 

Furthermore, roses and other flowers used to be 
part of the rent paid for land; and in France up to 



Flowers 241 

the sixteenth century, a nobleman, each year before 
the meeting of the assembly, had to strew the palace 
halls with rose leaves and give rose garlands to each 
member. Crowns of them were prizes and rewards, 
garlands of them decorated shrines, festivals and 
feasts. There is no end to the rose in song, story and 
history. 

The Lily. This beautiful flower runs a close 
second to the rose in favor. Its tall stateliness has 
given it the title of "king of flowers"; as the rose 
stands for love, so the lily stands for purity and peace. 
It, too, is devoted in the Roman Catholic Church to 
the worship of the Virgin Mary, and is shown again 
and again in religious pictures. One very ancient 
story tells how the lilies got their milky whiteness 
from the Milky Way in the sky! Another tells how 
the water lily (which doesn't really belong to the 
same family) was found one morning after a fairy 
had used it in crossing a pond and then had passed 
on and left it there. It certainly is a dainty footpad 
for a fairy. The lily-of-the-valley is one of the 
sweetest, most exquisite members of the lily family, 
and was once thought to be of great value as a medi- 
cine, when distilled under the new moon and 
charmed in other ways. The tiger lily, shown in 
the chart, is a gorgeous relative which was brought 
from Turkey in Asia, and is therefore sometimes 
called "Turk's cap." It is a red-orange color with 
black spots, and will light up the darkest" corner of 
the garden. 

But perhaps the most interesting lore about the 
lily is its use on the French coat of arms. We have 
all heard about the "Lily of France," as we have 
about the "Rose of England." When France had 
kings they used the lily on their banners. No one is 
quite sure whether it is the real white lily or the blue 
iris (fleur-de-lis), not a lily at all, which is the "Lily 
of France" ; but what does it matter, as long as the 

16 



242 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

"Lily of France" always means to a Frenchman what 
the American Eagle means to us? 

Flower Families. We have spoken of the 
Lily Family, as if flowers were grouped like 
human beings. They are grouped in exactly that 
way, if we include in our family our cousins to the 
last degree. Perhaps we ought to say the Lily clan 
or tribe; but the botanist doesn't say it that way. The 
members of the Lily Family all have certain traits 
that separate them from other families. That is true 
of the Rose Family, another large group. Suppose 
we see what familiar flowers belong in the Rose and 
Lily families ; then we can see what common charac- 
teristics they have. To the Rose Family belong the 
apple, pear, peach, plum, hawthorn, cherry, almond, 
strawberry, raspberry and blackberry plants, besides 
all the roses you can think of. To the Lily Family 
belong, besides the tiger lilies and white lilies, the 
tulip, hyacinth, yucca, onion and asparagus. Would 
you ever believe that the beautiful lily and the onion, 
which brings tears to your eyes when you cut it, are 
related? 

The Tulip. While we ponder over what each 
family has in common, let us think of some interest- 
ing things about another member of the Lily Family. 
The tulip, for instance, has customs and history con- 
nected with it. This gay flower gets its name from a 
turban; a very good name, indeed, if we remember 
how Turks look with their heads wound up in yards 
and yards of red or blue or yellow cloth. When a 
Persian man (who always wears a turban) wishes 
to tell a damsel that his face is on fire with love for 
her and his heart is burnt to a coal with love he hands 
her a tulip (look inside the tulip), and they are 
engaged! History says that a German brought the 
tulip bulb from Constantinople to Germany in 1559, 
and started all Europe, especially Holland, to grow- 
ing tulips and making them larger and gayer than 



Flowers '2^3 

ever. The Dutch gardeners were so skilful that bulbs 
rose to terrific prices. One certain bulb became 
worth so much money that six men owned shares in 
it. They speculated and gambled in tulips till these 
innocent flowers brought about quite a money panic; 
after that, tulip-growing became the wholesome 
gardeners' job that it should be. 

Daffodil and Narcissus. We might almost 
believe that the narcissus and the daffodil be- 
long to our Lily Family; but their family name 
is Amaryllis. They, too, are beloved of the poets, 
and they figure in song and story. A tiny daffodil 
is the flower honored on the Chinese New Year, 
which comes a month later than ours. It is to them, 
as to us, a symbol of new birth. Sometimes village 
people call it "lent lily," as it appears before Easter 
like a herald of resurrection. Some of the most 
beautiful poems in our language are dedicated to the 
daffodils. One poet tells us how he saw them — 

"Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze — " 

outdoing the waves that danced, too, in their glee. 
That poem is full of the joy of springtime flowers. 

The word narcissus hasn't so pretty a meaning, 
as we shall see, when we hear the story the Greeks 
tell. Narcissus was once a very beautiful Greek 
boy whom the nymph Echo loved. But Narcissus 
scorned her coldly, and she faded away in the woods 
till she became only a voice. Meanwhile, he wan- 
dered about in the woods till he came to a brook. 
His mother had seen to it that he should never look 
into a mirror, for it had been prophesied that a mir- 
ror would be his doom. Alas! the calm water of the 
brook was a beautiful mirror. Narcissus saw himself 
in it, but thought it to be someone else. He fell in 
love with his own image and hung over the water's 
edge, constantly pleading with his image to come to 



244 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

him. He was scorned as he had scorned Echo. There 
he took root, and there the narcissus stands to this 
day, bending over the brook to look at itself. 

The Three P's. The poppy, the pansy, and the 
primrose have also a story halo about them. The 
poppy is an old, old flower, beloved of the Chinese, 
Egyptians and the Greeks, who knew, as we do, that 
the seeds of the poppy contain a delicate salad oil, 
and from the flowers came opium for smoking and 
for medicine. The flower meant to them sleep- 
giving, and they devoted it to the god of sleep. Since 
the red poppy springs up among the grain, the Greeks 
also thought that it belonged to Ceres, the goddess 
of the harvest. To us the poppy means California, 
with rows and rows of marvelously-tinted flowers 
with perfect petals like silk gauze. Or it may mean 
to the farmer, as the daisy and the wild rose often 
do, troublesome weeds in his grain fields. 

But our sweetest associations are very recent. 
Some of us have heard much about the poppies in 
the wonderful poem, "In Flanders Fields," and the 
American soldier boys who sleep beneath them: 

In Flanders Fields 

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow 

Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place ; and in the sky 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly, 

Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the Dead. Short days ago 
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved, and now we lie 
In Flanders Fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe; 
To you from failing hands we throw 
The torch ; be yours to hold it high. 
If ye break faith with us who die, 
We shall not sleep, tho' poppies grow 
In Flanders Fields. 

— Lieut. John McCrae. 



Flowers 245 

The pansy is a relative of the violet and, like it, 
has been taken as a type for constancy and modesty. 
Its name means "thought," or "think of me," and so 
we give it to friends, or plant it on the graves of our 
loved ones. The beautiful old name of "heart's- 
ease" is even more comforting; the poets love to tell 
of it and how it grows more profusely in the gardens 
of the poor and lowly than in those of the rich and 
proud. 

The last "p," the primrose, is the best beloved 
of English meadow flowers. It means the "first rose." 
It is very often called cowslip — and English girls 
make huge balls of it for their May-day festivals. 
Others call it the "key-flower," and many legends 
are told of how it opens doors. One legend relates 
how it opened the door of memory to a knight return- 
ing from the wars; how as he slept among the prim- 
roses he was a boy again in his childhood's home. 
Another tells how a bunch of primrose keys opens 
to a favored child the door of a castle, wherein lie 
gold and gems. The child takes of the treasures, but 
returns the keys, that he may avoid a black dog, who 
will follow him forever, if he neglects that duty. The 
evening primrose shown on the chart is not of the big 
Primrose Family, but belongs to a family all its own. 
It is a lovely, fragrant thing that opens suddenly at 
sunset, gives out a delicious perfume to visiting 
insects, and closes again at sunrise. 

Carnation, Holly and Mistletoe. These 
are highly-favored and are all connected with 
religious beliefs. The carnation belongs to the Pink 
Family, and was in Greek mythology the favored 
flower of Jove. Perhaps for that reason it was used 
so much in coronations or crowns, which may account 
also for its name. The holly and the mistletoe were 
also connected with heathen rites once upon a time, 
though now we consider them connected decidedly 
with the birth of Christ and with Christianity. The 



246 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Druids, old British priests, used the holly and mistle- 
toe in their ceremonies; and our Christmas celebra- 
tions are celebrations derived in part from those of 
ancient times. However, our meaning is right, and 
that only matters. The holly means "holy," and our 
rather confused ancestors evidently thought it w^as a 
crown of holly that was put on Christ's head at his 
crucifixion. At any rate, the holly, which is green, 
with red berries, at Christmas time, when the rest of 
the world is white, is now the symbol of love and good 
wishes. The mistletoe, a queer, pale-green plant 
hanging on the trees when they are bare of leaves, and 
getting a good deal of its food from the tree it hangs 
on, has a sad heathen story connected with it. Frigga, 
the wife of the god Odin in Norse mythology, had a 
beloved son, Baldur; when he was born she thought 
she had made everything in the world promise it 
wouldn't harm him. Alas! she forgot to warn the 
mistletoe. When the gods were amusing themselves 
throwing things at Baldur and seeing them fall harm- 
less, Loki, the god of mischief, gave the blind god 
Holdur a sprig of mistletoe to throw. It killed Bal- 
dur; and his mother grieves for him six months of 
every year. When Freya grieves, we have autumn 
and winter. But let us rather think how the mistle- 
toe is connected with friends and lovers at Christmas 
time. 

Bluebell and Buttercup. These are humble 
field flowers, common to both Europe and the 
United States. Fairy lore makes both of them 
beloved of the fairies; the bluebells ring for their 
weddings and dances, the buttercups make bowls for 
their tables. 

Other Field Flowers. The golden rod, aster, 
blackeyed Susan and bitterroot are field flowers, 
too, of a later season and not so simple a type as the 



Flowers 247 

bluebell and buttercup. The first three belong to a 
family called Composites because they are really not 
one flower, but a combination of numerous flowers. 
The centers are often of one kind of flower and the 
rays of another kind. Pick an aster or dandelion 
apart and note how it is formed. These composites 
and the bitterroot, which is of the same family, seem 
more distinctively to belong to our country, for we 
have the most varieties, and they are much commoner 
with us. The aster, to be sure, has a Japanese rela- 
tive in the big, ragged and beautiful chrysanthemum, 
and it has been known in Europe and America for a 
long time. Its name has the pretty meaning of "star" 
— not so fitting for the purple New England aster, of 
course, as for the European white one. But purple 
fields of it east and west are true of America only. 
Also the rose-pink bitterroot carpets a fruitful valley 
in Montana, and has given it the name of Bitterroot 
Valley. Roadside stretches of yellow goldenrod are 
seldom seen outside of America. In fact, there is but 
little goldenrod to be found except in this country, 
where we have at least twenty-seven varieties. We 
often call it our national flower, though some people 
object to giving a weed that honor. 

Black-Eyed Susan. This attractive flower dec- 
orates our summer fields, too, in huge patches. 
Rather coarse flowers they are, but their sturdy, 
honest faces and their brown and gold color make as 
strong an appeal to us as many of the daintier garden 
flowers. The Black-eyed Susan is a relative of the 
sunflower, about which there is a pretty story. 

The Story of the Sunflower. The nymph 
Clytie fell in love with the beautiful sun-god, 
Apollo. Each morning she watched for his rising, 
each evening she gazed at his setting. Her love was 
a silent, secret love, and Apollo knew nothing of it — 



^48 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

would not have heeded her, perhaps, if he had. So 
devoted did she become that her face was always 
toward the sun, following his chariot of fire across 
the heavens. Gradually she took root and became a 
flower, which to this day turns its face in adoration 
towards the sun, throughout the livelong day. 
Whether the Greeks meant Clytie to represent our 
sunflower or one they call heliotrope doesn't matter; 
the story suits our sunflower, which keeps its face 
towards the sun. The poet Moore refers to this fact 
in the following lines: 

* * * the sunflower turns on her god when he sets, 
The same look which she turned when he rose. 

The Rhododendron and the Magnolia. We 
have two other ornamental, American flowers, 
among many which could be named— the rhododen- 
dron and the magnolia, both with European connec- 
tions. The former grows on a decorative garden 
bush, and is a close relative of the azalea. The mag- 
nolia grows on a dusky Southern tree, from which 
its white velvet blossoms, sometimes almost a foot 
across, gleam out like pale, fragrant moons. There 
is a tale that the velvet petals will turn black, if 
touched, so delicate is the flower. No greater com- 
pliment can be given a Southern beauty than to tell 
her she has a skin like a magnolia blossom. 

Parts of a Flower. If you think we have 
nothing but song and story that is interesting about 
flowers, you are quite mistaken. Each little flower 
in itself is a miracle. While flowers all have com- 
mon traits, still there is as much variety in the flower 
kingdom as there is a never-ending study of marvels. 

Suppose we take a simple flower like the butter- 
cup for our first investigation. We notice the small 
green leaves of the outer circle; that is the calyx 



Flowers 249 

(husk), each leaf being a sepal (covering). The 
beautiful yellow petals make the corolla (a little 
crown). Now in the center we notice tiny slender 
stalks carrying small bags at their tops; those are 
stamens (the word stamen means to stand) ^ the bags 
being anthers and containing the yellow dust called 
pollen. In the very center, covering the stalk "knob" 
from which the flower parts radiate, are the pistils, 
tiny flask-shaped objects with a sticky top. Many 
flowers contain only one such pistil, and many have 
fewer stamens. The corolla is often quite differently 
shaped; it may be bell-shaped, as in the bluebell; or 
formed into a keel with two wings, or standards, 
like the Pea Family flowers; or lipped, like a snap- 
dragon; or tubular, like a honeysuckle. 

How Seeds are Scattered. There are number- 
less shapes of flowers, as there are numberless color- 
ings. But whatever the shape and color, flowers all 
do the same work and have about the same problems. 
They are the seed-makers of the plants; and a very 
big job it is. The pistil is really the seed pod, as 
you will see if you cut one through, and the whole 
flower is concerned with getting the seeds in that 
pistil ripened and scattered. Two problems must be 
solved: first, how to get pollen from its own stamens 
or from stamens of other flowers on to the sticky part 
of its pistil, for unless that is done no seeds grow; 
second, how to get the seeds scattered as widely as 
possible, since they will not grow if they fall too near 
the mother plant. 

Why do you suppose the bees hover so constantly 
around flowers? Because they find there a delicious 
honey-drink called nectar, and also the bee-bread, 
pollen. That is true of moths, butterflies, and ants, 
too. Why do you suppose the flower manufactures 
such food? Because it needs insects, bees, butter- 



250 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

flies and moths to carry the pollen from one flower 
to the pistil of another. That is one way of solving 
the first problem. Watch a bee in a sweet pea; see 
how he comes out dusted with yellow pollen, which 
he rubs off on the pistil of the next flower. Often- 
times a flower can use only one particular insect ; then 
it shapes its flowers and deposits its nectar where just 
that one kind of insect can get it. It is a wonderfully 
fascinating subject, which you can read more about 
in your botany. This you must remember: the shape, 
the color, the fragrance of the flower, all have mean- 
ings, all are meant to help the flower in its big work 
of making and scattering its seeds. 

The wind, too, is used to sweep the pollen from 
some flowers to the pistils of others. That is a very 
wasteful process, but tree flowers and grass flowers 
often use that method. The wind is of more impor- 
tance, however, in scattering the seeds. Have you 
ever noticed the winged seeds of the maple, or the 
feathery umbrella on the dandelion seed? They show 
how the flowers fit their seeds to sail afar off on the 
wind. Nuts and fruits are seeds, too, adapted for 
scattering by animals or man. The squirrel carries 
off nuts, hides them in the ground and forgets some, 
which thereupon grow. Man eats the sweet fruit, 
but throws away the pit, which is the seed the flower 
wants scattered. Now you can guess why the Spanish 
needle and the burs stick to you or to woolly animals 
in the autumn. Perhaps, too, you will remember 
how some seed pods, like the poppy, crack open near 
the top, and the wind uses them like pepper boxes, 
strewing their black dust all around. Some seed pods, 
like those of the snapdragon, explode with a report 
like that of a popgun, scattering their own seeds by 
that force. And sometimes, as in the case of the 
tumble weed, the whole plant is pulled up by the 



Flowers 251 

wind, and it rolls ofif across the country, scattering 
seeds as it goes. 

There is much more that is fascinating about 
flowers; how some catch insects and digest their 
juices ; how they mimic poisonous flowers or insects 
for protection ; how they manufacture food for them- 
selves and their insect colonies; how water-flowers 
manage their problems, and so on. If you watch in 
your garden you can learn a great deal; if you read 
about flowers in books and magazines you can learn 
still more. And the more you learn, the more you 
will believe in the miracle and beauty of flowers; the 
more you will love them as poets, story-tellers and 
gardeners do. 



'Birds 



The most beautiful ornaments of this wonderful 
land of ours are the flowers and the birds. "Flowers 
are words which even a babe can understand," said 
a wise man. Even more dear to us are the birds, 

"Whose household words are songs in many keys, 
Sweeter than instrument of man e'er caught;" 

for the most cheerful thing out of doors is a dainty 
bird pouring from its throat its glad, light-hearted 
song. 

If we ask you, "What is a bird?" you will tell us 
that it is an animal with feathers, and an animal 
which flies. Your first answer is quite right, but 
your second is not wholly true, because bats fly, and 




These Are Fliers But Are Not Birds 

the bat is not a bird; also there are flying squirrels 
and flying fishes, which of course look not at all like 
the birds. Then, too, there are some birds which 
cannot fly; among these are the ostrich, with its long 
neck and long legs, and the penguin, a strange bird 
that walks upright on strong, short "flappers" that 

252 



Birds 



253 




, Birds Which Cannot Fly 



look like feet and that balances himself by waving 
other wing-like growths on its sides. The home of 
the ostrich is in the desert and of the penguin in the 
cold regions near the South Pole. There are other 
strange birds, also, that cannot fly. 

Already we have learned from these two birds 
last named that the bird family is scattered all over 
the world. You cannot go anywhere on the surface 
of the earth where they cannot be found, and no 
matter how far you are able to travel you may be 
surprised to know that most of them travel every 
year very much farther in single trips than man can 
possibly go, and very much faster, too. We shall 
tell you more about this later on. 

Their Song. Birds delight us by the beauty of 
their colored feathers, but even more by their song. 
Their colors please the eye-, but even when they can- 



254 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

not be seen their song is a constant delight. Did you 
know that there are many kinds of birds that do not 
sing, but merely chirp? And that some of the plain- 
est ones, those that really are not beautiful to look 
at, are the sweetest singers? Which would you pre- 
fer to have live in your yard — a bird of the most 
beautiful color that has no. song or a little dark crea- 
ture who could fill all the air around with a glorious 
melody? 

Where does the song come from? Your voice 
comes from a voice box called the larynx (pro- 
nounced lahr inks), and your tongue helps to form 
the sounds you utter. It is not so with the birds. 
Their tones comes from a special little organ in the 
throat called the syrinx (pronounced almost as 
though spelled seer ingks) . It is the most wonder- 
ful music box in all the world. 

You have noticed how loudly a little bird can 
sing. Just imagine how far you could be heard if 
your voice was as loud, compared to your size, as a 
bird's is! 

What Birds Eat. Some farmers do not like a 
good many of the birds because they eat growing 
crops and fruit. They see the damage done by the 
birds, but they do not always see that these same birds 
more than pay the farmer for all they destroy. There 
are more than 300,000 kinds of insects; not all of 
these varieties live in America, but thousands of them 
are found on every farm, and many are very injuri- 
ous to crops. Without the birds many crops would 
be ruined each year. There are some kinds of cater- 
pillars that in twenty-four hours eat more than a 
hundred times their own weight in food; one scarlet 
tanager, a beautiful red bird, has been known in 
eighteen minutes to eat 630 caterpillars. The tan- 
agers eat a little fruit, but do you not think they earn 
it? There may be a million plant lice on a single 



Birds 255 

tree; the birds destroy thousands of these in a single 
day. Army worms are dreaded by the farmers, and 
so are tussock moths and many small beetles, like 
potato bugs; birds eat these by the million; if they 
did not, our crops would not be half as large as they 
are. 

The rose-breasted grosbeak eats so many potato 
bugs that in some sections it is called the "potato-bug 
bird." One pair of brown thrashers will destroy 
60,000 insects in one season; a dozen pairs of wrens 
and their young in a season will eat fully one hun- 
dred twenty-five pounds of insects. Can people not 
afford to lose a few cherries and other fruit in ex- 
change for the constant warfare of the birds against 
these insect pests? 

The stories about the quantity of food a bird eats 
may seem to you like fairy tales, but they are true. 
You have noticed that birds are always active — al- 
ways flying or hopping about. You know that when 
you play hard you get very hungry. Birds are al- 
ways hungry because of' their constant activity, and 
their great problem is to keep supplied with food. 
Then, too, when the baby birds are hatched — from 
two to five in a nest — there are more hungry mouths 
to feed. Little birds grow very rapidly, and so they 
require a great deal to eat. Have you ever watched 
the mother and father birds feeding their young? 
Does it appear that the little ones ever get enough to 
eat? The heads of a bird family are about the busi- 
est things out of doors until their young are able to 
hunt their own food. 

When you were a baby your father and mother 
protected you with loving care. Bird parents show 
just the same attention to their little ones. They 
are tireless in bringing to them the almost unbelieva- 
ble amount of food they require; they watch over 
them while they are helpless, and protect them even 



256 



Guide to the Fou7idation Desk 



at the risk of their lives from all bird enemies; they 
keep the naked little bodies warm until they are cov- 
ered with feathers, and when grown strong enough 
they teach them to fly. Within a few weeks the little 
ones are on the wing, and soon they begin to prepare 
homes of their own. Some kinds of birds will raise 
four broods of little ones in a season. 

Their Nests. There are a few birds which do 
not build nests for themselves and their mates; two 




Varieties of Nests 

1. Baltimore Oriole 5. Wren 

2. Humming Bird 6. Scarlet Tanager 

3. Robin 7. Red-Winged Blackbird 



4. Goldfinch 



8. Chimney Swift 



of the most important of them are the cowbird and 
one species of the cuckoo. The European cuckoo is 
not a bird you will like when you learn a little about 
it. It has no home ; it will lay its eggs on the ground 
and then carry them to the nests of other birds and 
expect the owners of those nests to hatch the eggs and 



Birds ^57 

feed the young when they hatch. It never deposits 
more than one egg in a nest; it thinks the owner will 
not notice one extra egg. The cowbird is like the 
cuckoo. It will not rear its own young; like the 
cuckoo of Europe it puts its eggs in the nests of other 
birds. Most birds will allow the cowbird's egg to 
remain in the nest and will hatch it, but later on in 
this story you will learn what the yellow warbler 
does to prevent being imposed upon. 

All other birds build nests for their families. 
Some of these are soft and downy, being made of 
grasses and lined with feathers, little bits of cloth or 
down, while others are rough and coarse, constructed 
with sticks and stones and built high on rocks where 
enemies cannot reach them. The penguin lays its 
eggs on bare rocks. The only nest of the ostrich is a 
hole dug in the warm sand, where the heat of the 
sun hatches the eggs. One of the most carefully 
built nests is that of the oriole. It is from six to 
eight inches in length and is swung from a tree 
branch which is well protected with foliage. The 
oriole is a careful builder; it uses grass, string, hair, 
strips of bark, etc. Not all nests are made of the 
materials we have named. Some birds, among them 
the swallow, build of mud or clay; others, like the 
kingfisher, build tunnels into the bank of river or 
lake, with an opening near the water, and lay their 
eggs deep away from sight. 

Many birds return to the same nest a second year, 
while others, like the robin, may keep their homes, 
only long enough to rear one brood of little ones and 
then abandon it. 

Bird Houses. If you ever built a bird house in 
your yard and painted it nice and bright in red, yel- 
low, green, white, etc., you probably wondered why 
the birds would not make it their home. Here is 
the reason: They did not like your bright-colored 

17 



258 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



paint. They prefer dark colors, as near as possible 
to the color of the bark of trees. If you will build 
your bird house in the fall and stain it a dark brown 
color by spring it will lose its newness and appear 
weather worn; then some of the earliest birds to 
come back for the summer will take possession of it. 
A house should be about six by eight inches in 
size at the base and ten inches or a foot in height, 




Houses That Please the Birds 



with an entrance only large enough to admit the 
birds. For wrens, do not make the door large enough 
for the English sparrow to enter, for it may drive 
out the little wrens. Do not make it possible for cats 
or squirrels to climb up to the birdhouse, for they, 
will try to catch the young birds. Set the house on 
a pole, where there is shade, and around the bottom 
of the pole put a wide piece of tin, to prevent any 
animal from climbing. 

Bird Enemies. We have told you about the 
millions of insect enemies of man that the birds de- 
stroy every year. There is another side to this story 
of destruction, for just as birds prey upon insect life, 
so larger animals make victims of the birds. A man 
who has studied birds all his life and knows what he 
is talking about says that every cat kills an average 
of fifty birds a year, but cats are not their worst 
enemy. Birds have most to fear from human be- 



Birds 259 

ings — men and boys. Is this hard to believe? It is 
true, for men shoot birds, many of them for food and 
many just to satisfy their desire for what they call 
sport; and boys, we are sorry to say, try to hit them 
with air guns, slingshots, stones, etc. You never 
knew a girl who would injure these cheerful, sing- 
ing feathered friends of ours; boys should follow 
such good examples. 

Next to men and boys, cats and squirrels, the birds 
suffer from heavy storms and cold, accidents, snakes 
and other animals, such as skunks and weasels. 

Bird Migrations. Where do birds go during 
the cold Northern winters? You have noticed that 
about the same time early every autumn you miss 
their cheerful songs, and soon after the first of Octo- 
ber only a very few are to be seen. The junco, or 
snowbird, the tree sparrow, the brown creeper and a 
very few others are bold enough to stay with us all 
winter. (Do you throw crumbs to them when the 
ground is covered with snow? If you do, they will 
be regular visitors to your door.) All others dis- 
appear. They do not leave us merely on account of 
cold weather, for we know some birds stay north all 
winter; they migrate largely for the reason that they 
must go where food is plentiful. Most of them 
would starve to death during the cold months in the 
North. When they return from their southern win- 
ter homes you will notice they are strong and fresh 
from abundant feeding in the tropics. 

Many of the birds are with us all summer, and 
you are acquainted with the commonest of these. 
There are others which pass us by every spring and 
go far north into Canada to spend the summer around 
Hudson Bay and near the Arctic Ocean. All of the 
local birds and those from the far north take wing 
in the fall and fly straight to a warm climate. Many 
stop around the Gulf of Mexico, others stay in Mex- 



260 



Guide to the Foundation Desk 



ico, but the great majority fly into the northern part 
of South America, many species even crossing the 
Equator and wintering south of the Amazon River. 
One bird, the yellowleg, is among the greatest travel- 
ers of them all. During the summer he enjoys the 
climate of Northern Canada; when he is warned 
away by the approach of frost he flies 8,000 miles, 
to spend the w^inter down in Argentina, in the south- 
ern part of the South American continent. In the 
spring he starts back on the return trip of 8,000 miles ; 
so this little fellow travels 16,000 miles a year on his 
migration. Snipe and plover breed near the Arctic 
Circle and in the fall they, too, go to the southern 
end of South America. 

On their trips south in the fall most birds are not 
noticed in their flight; some fly very high, and others 
go in small groups — even singly; some species are 

night-fliers. You can, 
however, note the 
flight of the ducks and 
their peculiar forma- 
tion as they fly — in the 
shape of a great wedge, 
with the leader in 
front. Very few birds 
fly continually in their 
migration. They often 
stop for days or weeks 
on the way, feeding 
wherever they find 
anything inviting. For 
instance, the bobolinks 
stay for weeks in the 
ricefields of South 
Carolina, where they 
are disliked and are called ricebirds. However, 
some birds, like the golden plover, start on a flight 




Directions of Migration 



Birds 261 

from Nova Scotia over the Atlantic Ocean and for 
many hundreds of miles remain on the wing,, resting 
only on the West Indies islands before reaching the 
shores of Brazil. 

When they return north in the spring, birds will 
repay watching. If you will keep a record you will 
find that some species will be seen in the trees in 
your yard during the same week year after year, and 
that some of them may fly straight back thousands 
of miles to the same nests they occupied the year 
before. 

BIRDS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW 

On our colored chart are a dozen pictures of 
birds about which every boy and girl should know. 
We shall tell you many things about them here ; will 
you not try to learn more from father and mother or 
from your teacher or other older friends? Birds 
should interest you all your life. 

When we go for a walk, we enjoy it more if we 
know the people we meet. So we shall enjoy the 
outdoors more if we know the birds we see and can 
recognize their songs and calls. 

The Robin. The robin is one of the best known 
and best loved birds. When we hear his cheerful 
song some morning in early spring, we hasten to the 
window to see him. We feel more certain that spring 
is really here, when we find him on our lawn. 

He runs along the ground, stops and listens with 
his head cocked on one side, runs again, makes a 
sudden dive with his bill, tosses the dirt up, keeps 
working and tossing and soon he is tugging and pull- 
ing at an angle-worm which he has part way out of 
the ground. How did he know the angle-worm was 
there? I do not know. I saw one pull so hard that 
the worm came in two and the robin stumbled back- 
ward. He seemed a very surprised bird. 



262 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Even the best of birds may have some faults. 
Some folks say that the robin steals their cherries. 
Those folks do not know that if the robin had not 
been protecting our cherries all the spring by killing 
the bugs and worms on the tree, there would be no 
cherries for anyone. He probably thinks he has a 
right to some of the fruit he saved; do you think he 
earned it? Robins are very fond of mulberries; if 
we plant a mulberry tree, the robin will eat fewer 
cherries. They live mostly on insects and wild fruit. 

In the northern states we are very fond of the 
robin and he is protected by law. When he has fin- 
ished raising his family here, he goes south to spend 
the winter. Instead of living about the homes and 
cheering people with his song, he stays back in the 
woods, stuffing himself with rich, druggy berries. 
In some states where they are not appreciated robins 
are killed for food. Do you not hope they will grow 
fond of him as we are and pass laws to protect him? 

The robin is ten inches long, dull brown in color, 
with a bright red-brown or russet breast. The male 
has a black head. The female has a gray head and 
a paler breast. The young robins have a breast 
spotted with black. Notice the flecked or speckled 
throat on all of them. That is the mark of the thrush 
family, to which robins belong. 

Robins are not much afraid of people, and often 
they build their nests near houses. One built its 
nest over the door of our house; one built on a hay- 
rake that stood in the barnyard. Do you know what 
robins use to make their nests? It is made of mud 
and grass, so it isn't a very handsome nest. The}'' 
usually build on a horizontal branch or in the fork 
of a tree often quite low down. Like many other 
birds, the mamma robin likes to build the nest her- 
self. You see she has to sit in it, so she knows just 
how she wants it. Anyway, both birds bring ma- 



Birds 263 

terial for the nest, but if papa robin tries to lay it in 
place, the mother bird becomes very angry and flies 
at him and drives him out, just as though he had no 
business there. 

In the nest the mother bird lays four or five blue- 
green eggs, and in a few weeks the baby robins, big- 
mouthed and hungry, are hatched. Have you 
watched the old robins push the little ones out when it 
is time for them to learn to fly? Often the nest is 
abandoned as soon as the young have become inde- 
pendent. 

While robin is a very peaceable bird, one writer 
says that it can "scare an English sparrow with one 
flirt of its tail." 

The Bluebird. The bluebird arrives with the 
martins and the pussy-willows, frequently ahead of 
the robin, sometimes as early as the third week in 
February. We like him because he is so friendly, 
sings so cheerily and sweetly, and because he looks 
like a bit of the blue spring sky. 

Lowell calls him an "April poem that God has 
dowered with wings." One writer says it seems — 

"When 'mid the budding elms the bluebird flies, 
As if a bit of sky had taken wings." 

The male birds, like the males. of most bird fami- 
lies, arrive a week or even ten days ahead of the fe- 
males. There may be deep snow after these first 
birds come. It is a good idea to scatter some crumbs 
every day; that will keep these early visitors from 
starving and help persuade them to stay and build 
in our yard. 

Bluebirds like to be near folks. They will nest 
in the orchard or garden, or in liouses put up for 
them. Unfortunately the bluebird and English 
sparrow are about the same size, and the sparrows 
often taken possession of the houses put up for blue- 
birds. If it is a very desirable location, the blue- 



264 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

birds may fight the sparrows and, unless there are too 
many of them, drive them away. 

Watch them when they are building their nest 
and you will see that the male bird brings material 
and waits outside the box until the mother bird 
comes out. Then he goes in and lays it in place. 
Probably she lays it over to suit herself after he has 
gone. 

The nest is lined with grass. There are four or 
five pale bluish eggs. 

The bluebird's call is a short, sweet warble, and 
the song is the warbling continued. Do you know 
the verses, "I know the song that the bluebird is 
singing"? Perhaps you sing them at school: 

"I know the song that the bluebird is singing, 
Up in the apple tree where he is swinging. 
Brave little fellow, the skies may be dreary, 
Nothing cares he while his heart is so cheery. 
Hark! How the music leaps out of his throat! 
Hark! Was there ever so merry a note? 
Listen a while and you'll hear what he's saying, 
Up in the apple tree swinging and swaying. 
'Daffodil! Daffodil!' Say, do you hear? 
Surnmer is coming and springtime is here!" 

The whole seven inches of him fairly bubbles over 
with joy. 

The Yellow Warbler. There are some thirty 
varieties of warblers in the United States, most of 
which winter in South America or Cuba and nest as 
far north as Canada. Some few of them, among 
them the yellow, stay with us through the summer 
and raise their families here. The others travel in 
flocks, passing north in May and returning south in 
September. One morning in the fall you may go 
out and see a great many of them; the next morning 
there may be none at all. 

The male yellow warbler has chestnut streaks on 
the sides ; the female is duller and without the streaks. 



Birds 2Q5 

They appear in early May and, darting after insects, 
look like a gleam of sunshine. 

The nest is made of plant fibers quilted together, 
and is fastened to upright forks of bushes or trees, 
usually quite low down. All warblers lay four to 
six white eggs, and with the exception of the Swain- 
son warbler, which nests in the Southern states, the 
eggs are spotted with brown or chestnut blotches. 

Warblers eat plant lice, leaf hoppers and all sorts 
of leaf worms, picking them from the leaves of trees 
and shrubs. A few warblers catch their food on the 
wing. The oven-bird is a warbler which nests on 
the ground. The yellow-breasted chat and the black 
and white creeper are warblers. Have you seen the 
creeper creeping around tree trunks hunting insects? 
Unless you look carefully you might mistake the yel- 
low warbler for a goldfinch, but the goldfinch has 
black wings and tail and a black topknot. 

One of the most interesting things about the war- 
bler is the way it outwits the cowbird. The cowbird 
is related to the blackbirds and is a bird tramp, lazy 
and without a home. It deposits its eggs in the nests 
of any small bird. The young cowbird will be 
larger and stronger than the little birds in whose 
home it is, and so will be able to get most of the food 
brought by the parent birds. The birds which really 
belong in the nest are crowded out or nearly starved. 
Young cowbirds do not learn to take care of them- 
selves as early as most young birds do, so the parent 
birds are kept feeding the interloper so long that 
often they do not have time to raise a second brood. 

The yellow warbler has no notion of being im- 
posed on in that way. So when she comes home and 
finds a large cowbird egg among her own she simply 
builds another bottom in the nest, covering the cow- 
bird egg. Then she lays fresh eggs of her own. If 
a cowbird lays another egg with these, the parent 
bird will make another partition. Sometimes she 



266 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

makes as many as three. How do you suppose she 
knows that that egg will hatch into a big greedy 
bird that will take the food from the rightful owners 
of the nest? 

The warblers' song is only a warble, hardly a song 
at all. Its call is a sharp "Che-wee, chc-wee che- 
wee." This warbler is sometimes called the "yellow 
bird." It winters in Central America, and is a small 
bird to travel that long distance. 

The Red-winged Blackbird. Early in March, 
before the oriole arrives, you may hear "O-ka-lee," 
or "Conk-err-ee," as it sounds to some people. Then 
you know that the red-winged blackbird is with us 
again. The male is a brilliant black, with shoulders 
of scarlet and buff; the female is a brownish-black 
above and streaked below. He is quite dashing look- 
ing; she is quite plain. They are about nine inches 
long. 

Blackbirds are sociable birds, and live in colo- 
nies and travel in flocks. Sometimes they gather in 
the trees and hold a concert, singing with all their 
hearts a chorus of liquid sound. 

Half of the blackbirds' food is weed seed, one- 
fourth beetles, grasshoppers and other insects. Red- 
wing also eats army worms, wasps, flies, spiders and 
bugs, and when he is migrating in the spring and fall 
he may eat a small amount of grain. 

It is a pretty sight to see the flocks go by, espe- 
cially in the fall. Did you ever try to count how 
many you could see? Sometimes a stretch of sky is 
fairly black with them, and how they sing as they fly! 

The nest of redwing is well-woven of grass and 
rushes, and partially suspended from the rim. Red- 
wing is a cousin of the Baltimore oriole. In the nest 
are four or five light blue eggs, marked with pur- 
plish-black. 

Other members of the family are the meadow lark, 
grackle, yellow-headed blackbird and bobolink. The 



y 



Birds 267 

grackles strut about so dignified and lordly that it is 
fascinating to watch them. The purple grackle is 
especially brilliant, combining violet, purple, green, 
and steel-blue in his coloring on neck and wings. 

The yellow-head is found on the western plains 
and seldom seen in the central states. His head, neck, 
breast and throat are bright orange-yellow. Some- 
one called him : 

"Fire-bearer of the gods, blue-black, 
With flecks of sunshine on thy back." 

The Wren. The wren is often called a saucy 
bird, because it holds its tail erect and flirts it so im- 
pudently. The wren is smaller than the English 
sparrow, measuring four and three-quarters inches. 
It is brown above, light brown or dull gray below, 
with tail, wings and flanks barred. 

Wrens like to build near the house, and will use 
any house put up for them. It is a good idea to 
make the wren house small, with an entrance so small 
that the English sparrow cannot get in. 

The male bird arrives first. If there are several 
boxes on the premises, he carries twigs into all of 
them. Gene Stratton Porter, who has studied many 
of them, says that this is because all the boxes are 
much too large. The male fills in between the door 
and the space needed for the nest, then when the fe- 
male arrives she selects the location she likes best and 
the nest is built in that box. 

You may often see a wTen trying to drag in at the 
tiny door of the house a large branched twig much 
too big to go in. He does not give up easily, but 
pulls and tugs and comes back to it again. Some- 
times 3^ou can help him by breaking the twig so it 
will go in. The nest proper is made of grass, hair 
and down and often chicken feathers. Wrens have 
been known to build in the pocket of an old coat left 
hanging outdoors, or in any crevice in boards. There 



268 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

are six to eight white eggs, thickl}^ speckled with 
pinkish brown. 

Wrens which are disturbed become small furies. 
They will fly directly at anyone or anything which 
molests them, keeping up all the time an angry chat- 
ter which sometimes becomes so violent that it sounds 
like real scolding. Unless the sparrows are too nu- 
merous, wrens will drive them away. 

Wrens sing all the time, rain or shine. I do not 
think anyone has tried to imitate the wren's song. It 
is just a jumble of loud, clear, bubbling notes. Un- 
like most birds, wrens still sing when nest-making is 
over, and they retire to the woods to moult. 

Insects form almost ninety-eight per cent of wrens' 
food. The baby wrens eat almost as much as any 
other little birds. In one case when the mother bird 
did all the feeding, she made one hundred ten trips 
to the nest in four and a half hours, carrying an insect 
each time. 

The Barn Swallow. Swallows have been 
called the "light cavalry of the bird army." They 
live almost wholly on insects. Their long, pointed 
tails enable them to turn quickly, and they can catch 
their food on the wing. They are the only birds 
which can catch the swift-flying dragon-flies. 

All swallows have short, broad, deeply-cleft bills 
with which they catch the insects. They fly with 
their bills open, their saliva is sticky, and once an in- 
sect gets in a swallow's mouth there is no chance at all 
that he will get out. When a number of insects have 
been caught, the bird rolls them into a pellet and 
swallows them. The barn swallows' special food 
is flies. They also eat many ants, catching the winged 
females before they have an opportunity to found 
new colonies. 

Barn swallows are only a trifle larger than Eng- 
lish sparrows, but their long wings make them appear 
larger than they are. They are the most graceful 



Birds 269 

and beautiful of the swallows. They are distin- 
guished by bright brown markings and a deeply 
forked tail. Notice the white spot on all the tail 
feathers except the middle pair. The female is 
duller in color than the male, and her tail is not so 
deeply forked. 

They build inside of buildings, on the beams and 
rafters. The nest is bowl-shaped and formed of 
pellets of mud stuck together with saliva and lined 
with feathers. It is stuck to the rafters and open at 
the top. There are five to seven white eggs, dotted 
with reddish brown. 

The purple, or house, martins are another species 
of swallow which will stay around our homes if we 
put up boxes in which they can build. They are the 
largest of the swallows, a beautiful glossy black with 
purplish tints, and they are most sociable, often build- 
ing close to homes. They live generally in colonies; 
that is, several families will build in the same house, 
if it is divided into several rooms each with a separate 
opening — a bird apartment building. The house 
should be placed on a pole ten or fifteen feet high. 

Tree, or white breasted, swallows, which we often 
see on telegraph wires, and bank swallows, or sand 
martins, are two other members of this family. 

The swallow's graceful, easy movements and the 
fact that it is almost always on the wing causes one 
writer to address them, "Is it far to heaven, O swal- 
low, swallow?" 

Ruby-throated Humming-bird. There are 
more than a hundred species of humming-birds, but 
the ruby-throated is the only one which comes out- 
side of the tropics. Their name comes from the hum 
made by the vibration of their wings, which move so 
fast that they can hardly be seen when in motion. 
"Jewels of nature" is the fanciful name given them 
because of the ruby-red throat and shining green 
back. 



270 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Ruby-throat is three and three-quarters inches 
long, although it looks smaller. The long bill is 
formed to dip deep into flowers and extract the honey 
and the insects found feeding there. The long- 
throated trumpet flower is a favorite feeding place. 
Humming birds 'are so small and sphinx moths are 
so large that the moth is often mistaken for the bird. 

Humming birds are quite tame. They dart about 
quickly, but this is in pursuit of the nectar they are 
gathering, not because they are afraid. They often 
fly into houses. They do not like anyone near their 
nests, and will dash at intruders with angry squeaks. 

The nest is placed on a small limb which may be 
no larger than a lead pencil. It is shallow, and about 
as large around as a silver dollar. The outside wall 
is usually made of lichen, bound on with cobwebs. 
The nest is lined with the soft velvety down from 
the inside of a chestnut burr, if there are any to be 
found in the vicinity. The small size and the lichen 
covering make the nest look like a knot on the limb, 
or like a tuft of moss. Do you suppose the bird 
knows that the lichen makes the nest diflicult for a 
person to see? Did you ever find a humming bird's 
nest? 

Our common swifts belong to the same family as 
the humming-birds, not to the swallows. 

The Song Sparrow. 

"Now, see if j'ou can tell, my dear, 
What bird it is that every year, 
Sings, 'Sweet, sweet, sweet, very merry cheer'!" 

Someone else thought he v/as saying, "Fitz, fitz, 
fitz, we, we-sir, sir-witz, witz." Whatever he is say- 
ing, he is singing sweetly and continuously. "Master 
singer of the winter woods," he has been called. The 
song resembles that of the canary. He is probably 
the best known, most abundant and most widely dis- 
tributed bird we have. 



Birds 271 

One-seventh of all the birds in the United States 
belong to the sparrow family. There are more than 
thirty species, and all except the English sparrow 
are counted among the good birds. The English 
sparrow eats many weed seeds, but it is so quarrel- 
some and so numerous that it drives away birds we 
would rather have near us, so most people think it 
is best to get rid of the English sparrow. 

Many sparrows stay with us all winter, but most 
of them go farther south. All sparrows are dusty 
brown, and are streaked with gray; all of them eat 
many weed seeds and some insects. Sparrows have 
strong, conical bills with which they crack the shells 
of the seeds. Dr. Beal of Iowa estimates that the 
sparrows of that state eat 875 tons of weed seed every 
year. Sparrows fly slowly and heavily, quite unlike 
the quick, graceful flight of the swallow. 

Song sparrows nest in vines and shrubs about the 
yard, or in low bushes along creeks and rivers. You 
may have seen them running through the grass look- 
ing like small mice. They probably were hunting 
ground beetles, grasshoppers, or grasshoppers' eggs, 
which make up about one-fourth of their food. In 
the nest of grass you may find three to five blue-white 
eggs spotted with brown. 

Other sparrows are the field sparrow, which has 
a reddish bill; chipping sparrow, sometimes called 
the hair bird because it lines its nest with hair; and 
the tree sparrow, which is found only in the North- 
ern states. Juncoes, snowflakes and snowbirds are 
sparrows which live in Canada, and visit us only in 
the winter, when our sparrows have gone farther 
south, where they can be more sure of finding plenty 
of weed seeds not covered over by snow. 

Because sparrows are found all over,the country, 
they are one of the birds with which we compare 
other birds in estimating size. The song sparrow is 
six and a quarter inches long. 



272 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

The Baltimore Oriole. The Baltimore oriole 
is seven and a half inches long, about four-fifths the 
size of a robin. The male has a brilliant orange 
breast, rump and tips of the outer wing feathers. The 
female is dull gray and yellow. Lowell calls him a 
"glance of summer fire." 

Orioles like to build their nests as near as possible 
to a house. They eat little fruit, but will keep our 
trees free from hairy and tent caterpillars, gypsy 
moths, codling moths, plum curculios, tussock moths, 
browntails and plant lice. They also eat squash and 
cucumber beetles and in the south the cotton boll 
weevil. So you see that they are very valuable birds. 

Do you know what the nest looks like? It re- 
sembles a short, deep hammock hung out on the end 
of a limb. It is made of string and plant fiber, and 
if you leave a bit of bright-colored yarn out in the 
yard, I suspect you will find the oriole has woven it 
into its nest. The birds collect string and fiber and 
hang it over a twig, fastening it so it will not blow 
away. When they think they have enough, the fe- 
male pushes her way into the middle of it, and begins 
to push it out and bind it together and fasten it 
strongly to the twigs and small limbs. They use real 
knots to fasten it. The male all the time during 
building brings more material. When the hammock 
is finished, the real nest of moss, wool, down and hair 
is built inside. 

As you can see by looking at an oriole's nest, the 
mother bird sits away down in the bottom where 
she can get no air and cannot look out. Gene Strat- 
ton Porter tells of an oriole which built a window in 
her hammock. She is sure the bird did it on pur- 
pose, because she started one, found it would be too 
high, so left it and made another lower down. In 
the nest the oriole lays five or six white eggs, marked 
with blackish brown. 

The oriole has a sharp, clear whistle which is 



Birds 273 

unlike that of any other bird. Its song is appealing, 
and it sings freely. Orioles sing and chatter all the 
time. I think they tell one another what a good time 
they are having, and what a pretty color this string 
is, and how fine it will look woven in just here, and 
how the children are getting along, and whether they 
have their eyes open. And the baby birds chatter 
away — all day and into the night. I think they 
must talk in their sleep, because you will hear chirps 
and peeps very late, long after they should be asleep. 

Orioles winter in Central America. Other names 
for the Baltimore are golden oriole, gold robin, hang- 
nest, English robin, and fire-bird. You can see why 
they are called by each name. Orioles belong to the 
blackbird family. 

There are many pretty poems about the oriole. 
Here is an old verse: 

"Of all the weavers that I know, 
The oriole's the best ; 
High on the apple tree he weaves 
A cozy little nest." 

The Blue Jay. The blue jay is so attractive- 
looking and so persistent with his rollicking good 
humor and his friendliness, that we make excuses for 
him. He needs to be excused, because he is ill- 
mannered, noisy, quarrelsome, thieving. He destroys 
the eggs and young of other birds. He takes their 
food and nesting material. Even his harsh call, 
"Jay! Jay! Jay!" sounds antagonistic. He looks 
as though "he would not avoid trouble if he could." 
He likes to imitate the call of a sparrowhawk or red- 
shoulder and throw the whole bird community into 
hysterics of fear. This may be high spirits, not bad 
temper, but birds, like folks, should consider the con- 
sequences of their jokes and not make things too un- 
pleasant for others. His blue coat and his call give 
him his name. 

18 



274 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

Jays are sociable. After the nesting season is 
over, you may find a group of them gathered together 
in the tops of the trees, calling and talking and 
screeching. "Ge-rul-lup" is about the way the three- 
note call sounds. When the mother bird is brooding 
the male watches over her and sings to her, and he is 
a good provider of food for the babies. He is not 
harsh to them, but kind and gentle, singing softly, in- 
stead of making his harsh, discordant sound. His 
long tail keeps him from traveling well in a high 
wind. It is amusing to watch his efforts at such 
times. 

The nest is made of twigs and sticks, in bushes 
or low trees; young pine trees are especially liked. 
There are four pale greenish-blue eggs speckled with 
brown. 

Jays may stay with us all the year, in the orchards 
or door-yards, or calling from the woods. They eat 
wood-borers, scale insects, grasshoppers and the eggs 
of some caterpillars; these comprise about one-fifth 
of their food. The rest is chiefly acorns, chestnuts 
and beechnuts. They store nuts, as squirrels do. 
They also eat some corn. The poet Riley has some 
verses about the jay: 

"Mr. Bluejay, full o' sass, 
In them baseball clothes o' his, 
Sportin' round the orchard, jes 
Like he owned the premises." 

Everard Jack Appleton, in The Quiet Courage, 
has these verses, in Southern negro dialet: 

Jaj^-bird ain't no singer. 

But his clothes is gay! 
Flies up in a tree an' yells , 

All de lifelong day. 
Soun's des lak a dorg-fight 

When he 'gins ter squawl, 
Othuh buhds dey stan's aside — 

Let's him do it all ! 



Birds 275 

Odder buhds doan' lahk him, 

Dey des leave him be; 
Go erway an' let him think 

He done bought dat tree! 
Ain't he lahk some folkses — 

Fin' 'em norf an' souf — 
Might mak folks b'leeve in him, 

Ef he'dshethemouf!" 

The Bobolink. Robert of Lincoln is a great 
favorite. His black and white coat is striking, he is 
friendly, he guards his mate on the nest, feeds the 
young faithfully, and sings beautifully. He gets 
his name from his call, which sounds like "Bob-o- 
link! Bob-o-link! Bob-o-link! Spink, spank, spink!" 
He has a long song which begins with his name but 
is soon lost in a multitude of other notes. His song 
is so contagious that Lowell said it "runs down, a 
brook of laughter through the air." 

He sits on the fence, teeters on the grass, flutters 
above the clover and flies in a topsy-turvy fashion, 
singing all the while, in an irrepressible way. Bobo- 
link, you know, is related to the blackbirds, and his 
alarm note resembles theirs. 

Bobolinks come north early in May. By the 
middle of August the male has lost his beautiful coat, 
has stopped singing and he and his mate are pre- 
paring to leave for the winter home in Brazil. In 
the south they loiter among the rice fields of South 
Carolina, gorging themselves on this dainty until they 
become known as ricebirds or reed birds. In Octo- 
ber we find them in Jamaica. By this time they are 
so fat the islanders call them butter birds. If you 
look on the map and locate the headquarters of the 
Paraguay River, you will find the winter home of 
the bobolinks. In April they are again in Florida 
on their way north. Here they are called May 
birds. 

Originally bobolinks were found only in the east- 



276 Guide to the Foundation Desk 

ern part of the United States, but, like many other 
birds, they have followed emigration, until now they 
are found as far west as Utah and Nevada. 

Bobolinks nest on the ground. The female se- 
lects a spot well away from the edge of a field — a 
spot which looks like many other spots, so that no 
one can locate the nest. Then she sits down and turns 
about until she has worked out a small hollow. This 
she lines with dead leaves and grass. Sometimes 
she pulls the growing leaves and grasses together over 
her, to form a sort of arch. Bobolinks especially 
like clover fields. Because there is no way of mark- 
ing the location of the nest, many young bobolinks 
are killed, but in spite of the numbers which are killed 
in such ways and in the rice fields of the south they 
do not seem to be decreasing in numbers. The white 
eggs, heavily spotted with brown, will probably all 
hatch out, and there will be four to six young birds. 
Do you remember the verses in which the bobolink 
sings, "Noboby knows but my mate and I where our 
nest and our nestlings lie"? They know that the nest 
is well hidden. All the time the mother is brooding, 
the gay, happy father bird is sitting somewhere 
within sound, singing to her as cheerily as he knows 
how. In case of heavy rains before the young are 
old enough to fly, the young birds may be drowned. 

The United States government estimates that 
bobolinks eat ten per cent of the rice crop each year, 
but in the north he eats only insects and weed seeds. 

The full-grown birds are seven and a quarter 
inches long. 

The Red-headed Woodpecker. Redhead and 
his brothers, the flicker (or as it is sometimes called, 
yellow-hammer, high hole, or yarup) and the yellow- 
bellied sap-sucker, are all fine guardsmen for our 
trees. They use their bills so effectively and so stead- 
ily to drill holes in trees in search of grubs that some- 
times they sound like a whole battery of triphammers. 



Birds 277 

The bill is also used to excavate a place for a nest. 

While the woodpecker is working it uses its stiff, 
pointed tail feathers as a prop. The claws have two 
toes pointing forward and two pointing backward, 
to help support the bird when it is climbing. The 
tongue may be twice as long as the head, and it has 
sharp barbs on the end. The bill is long and strong, 
and has a chisel point to cut with. You see how 
well these birds are equipped for the work they do. 

Nearlv half of the woodpeckers' food is boring 
insects, which if they were not checked would kill 
the trees. These birds also eat ants, seeds and nut 
meats. The redhead is not as hard a w^orker in 
search of food as some of the other birds; sometimes 
it simply sits and watches for flying beetles to get in 
the way of its long tongue. 

Redhead is noisy and quarrelsome, and eats the 
eggs and young of other birds, but because it does so 
much to help us it is seldom killed. In some sections 
where these birds drum on buildings they keep peo- 
ple from sleeping and may even deface the structure. 

In such case someone is apt to go looking for 
them with a gun. That is unfortunate, because we 
have few other birds which are as good protectors 
for our orchard and shade trees. 

Woodpeckers build new nests each year, leaving 
the old ones for other birds. Holes in fence posts or 
in trees in the orchards or woods are all used. The 
eggs are four to six, and are glossy white. 

Adult birds are nine and three-quarter inches 
long — almost the size of the robin. The entire head 
and upper breast of adults is red. The young birds 
have a gray head and back streaked with darker 
coloring. 



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